“It could happen to anyone”
Paras Griffin/Getty Images Ashanti
Over her long career, she has been a successful entrepreneur. Ashanti Has chart-topping singles, a Grammy Award, and her own star on The Tonight Show. Hollywood Walk of Fame — but not without enduring quite a bit of music industry drama along the way.
“Honestly, I’m not sure if another artist would be able to deal with what I’ve dealt with,” the R&B icon tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, opening up about the highs and lows she’s endured since hitting the scene more than 20 years ago.
Ashanti was born in Long Island, New York to Tina Douglas (her long-term manager) and Ken-Kaide Douglas. She discovered her voice singing at the age of 12 when she was a singer. Mary J. Blige‘s “Reminisce” for her parents, who started taking her to local singing competitions — which she often won. She signed to Murder Inc., a record label run by Irv Gotti in 2002 after two failed record deals as a teenager. Her No. 1 hits quickly followed. Songs like “Always on Time”, and “Foolish” were No. 1 hits.
“It was a little shock to just have a regular, normal life. Boom“It was a blessing,” the 42-yearold singer-songwriter said. His self-titled debut album, which sold nearly 505,000 copies in just one week, was released in 2002. It really did pop off when it did for me.
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Murder Inc.’s only female R&B artist at the time, Ashanti often found herself working in rooms as the only woman among male rappers and hip-hop artists. “I was always a boy, so I felt right at ease with a bunch big brothers,” she says. She also notes that the new landscape presented its challenges, which she appreciated. “If there were a beat that I wanted and another rapper on the record, we would have had to fight it out and the beat was awarded to the one who wrote the best record. It made me stronger.
Throughout the early 2000s, she would also find herself compared to other women in R&B by fans and media outlets alike. While certain headlines still stick out today — “The Solo Beyoncé: She’s No Ashanti,” wrote The New York Times in 2003 — Ashanti says there were never any issues between the genre’s women behind the scenes.
“Reading [that headline]I was like, “What’s the deal?” She said, “We are cool.” “Both of our young females, who were following their dreams and doing what they loved, made us both happy. It wasn’t beef or tension.
KMazur/WireImage Ashanti
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Being close to her mom and close-knit colleagues like Fat Joe is a great blessing. Ja Rule Ashanti was protected for a time by Gotti and Gotti. After several more hits and albums, however, federal agents accused the record label of laundering drug money. The matter was brought to trial through 2005. (Gotti, 52 and his brother Chris, Murder Inc.’s co-founder were ultimately acquitted.
Throughout the trial, Ashanti looked to remain “loyal” to her “family” of colleagues and accompanied them to court — all while losing business due to her affiliation with the group. She says that “a lot of things were pulled out from under me right as I was continuing my soar.”
Ashanti started dating a rapper around the same time. Nelly And ventured into acting in films such as 2006’s John Tucker Must Die. Her connection to Gotti soured, which he’s since claimed was partially the result of a romantic relationship between them abruptly ending — allegations she denies, stating there was no relationship. She explains, “I loved Irv.” “We had our circumstances, but I think that he exaggerated it.”
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Murder Inc. was in turmoil around Ashanti’s fifth album. The Declaration She left the group in 2008 and soon returned to music. In 2008, she quit music to focus on acting. She starred as Dorothy in The Wiz Onstage in NYC, 2009. She says, “It was not a choice.” “It was inevitable because of everything else.”
After a brief hiatus, she returned to music and launched Written Entertainment, an independent label. She released her sixth album, 2014. Braveheart. Removing herself from Gotti’s “control,” she speculates, led him to continue speaking negatively about her in public — through today. Ashanti says, “I think that he started to get really bitter.” “Sometimes you get hurt as a man.” While most men can move on, some men aren’t.
Braveheart Inaugurated in Billboard 200’s top 10 — an impressive feat for an independent artist. Behind the scenes, however, she had to deal with other problems. She recently spoke out about the difficulties she faced. sexual harassment at the hands of a close-knit male music producerTwo songs were written by her and her friend,. He offered to give her the tracks free of charge, but then he changed his mind and told her that she had to shower with him or pay $40,000 each song.
EuropaNewswire/Gado/Getty Ashanti
RELATED: Ashanti Says a Music Producer Asked Her to Shower with Him — or Pay $80K for Songs They Created
“I truly, sincerely thought he was kidding. “You can feel that someone is cool and yet in their backs they have an ulterior motive,” she said. She hopes sharing her story encourages other women in music to be cautious before trusting others. “Things like that can happen to Ashanti, so it can happen to anyone — and I’ve heard worse stories.”
Ashanti has triumphed in spite of all her hardships. She has released music in recent years (with a brand new album in the works) and has acted onscreen in various projects, including VH1’s. Christmas Carol by a New Diva She performed her entire catalog to thousands of people around the world. She says, “I just performed shows in Australia and New Zealand” “I held the mic up and the crowd shouted ‘Foolish!” It’s amazing to feel that after twenty years.
She is also trying to take her career in her own hands by creating a documentary about her life, art, and work. re-recorded version of her debut album — which she, rather than Murder Inc., will fully own upon its release. She says, “Hopefully, this inspires artist to know, at end of the day it’s so important that you own your creativity.”