The song, however, almost didn’t go to Ashanti. The following year, Ashanti would appear on Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?” from his album “Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.).” Featuring an interpolation of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It?,” “What’s Luv?” would peak at No. She also appeared on the chart-topping remix of Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Real,” alongside Ja Rule, though she remained uncredited for her contributions to the remix’s chorus. In 2001, she appeared on Ja Rule’s “Always on Time,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a breakthrough hit for both artists. Ashanti’s sound was R&B, and she found her place among the roster’s acts as a collaborator and featured vocalist. co-founder Irv Gotti was mostly interested in working with rap artists. “When I heard ‘Can I Get A…’ I heard Ja’s voice, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ I remember immediately liking his voice.”Ī few years later, Ashanti would meet Ja Rule at the Def Jam and Murder Inc. “It was a culture shock coming from New York and moving to Atlanta, the music was very different, especially in the ’90s,” Ashanti says. So I told my mom, ‘I don’t think I want to do this.’ I don’t know if I would have been bold enough to just say ‘Oh, I’ll get another deal.’”Īshanti would later move to Atlanta, where she heard Ja Rule on the radio. “And my friends would come over, and I’d be a little embarrassed to play my songs. “When you’re 14, you want to show off in front of your friends, and you want to be proud of everything,” Ashanti says. The material didn’t connect with Ashanti, and she asked to be let go from Jive. She was 14 years old and the label wanted to fashion her into a pop star, a la Britney Spears. He was the first person to call me ‘Shorty.’”Īshanti would end up signing her first deal with Jive Records. “Biggie signed an autograph for me,” Ashanti says. Before Ashanti and Puff discussed a deal, she exchanged pleasantries with the rapper Notorious B.I.G. At the time, they didn’t have enough money to cut a demo, so Ashanti handed him a headshot and sang live. Blige’s “What’s the 411?” album.Īs Ashanti recalls: “I’m vacuuming and my mom comes downstairs … stomping and yelling, like, ‘I thought I told you not to listen to the radio!’ And I’m, like, ‘That wasn’t the radio, I was just singing.’ And then she was, like, ‘Wait, that was you?’ and it kind of turned into something else.”Īshanti and her mother, Tina Douglas, would later pay a visit to Bad Boy Records to meet with Puff Daddy. To entertain herself, Ashanti began singing “Reminisce” from Mary J. Still, she admits that she never “woke up and said ‘Hey! I want to be a singer.’” As the story goes: Ashanti was cleaning the house one day, and her mother told her not to listen to the radio or watch TV, so as not to distract from her chores. She sang in church choirs, at family barbecues and at house parties, but she didn’t consider a career in music until after performing in her first talent show at the age of 12. In addition to sports, Ashanti loved music. I had a really cool active childhood and I remember it being very diverse.” “I made the boys play with my Barbies, they made me play kickball and baseball in the streets. “Every girl wanted the ‘My Little Pony’ Big Wheel, I wanted the’ Transformers’ Big Wheel,” Ashanti tells Variety.
BABY ASHANTI DISCOGRAPHY FULL
Silicon Valley is a long way from Glen Cove, N.Y., where Ashanti grew up, applying the “woman of strength” credo from a young age, both in school, where she ran track, and at home, where she acted as a ringleader in a neighborhood full of boys.