Originally posted by Reverie Ready!

Originally posted by Reverie #NeverForget

Originally posted by supaspaz https://vine.co/v/5eMQvM9z5DD

Originally posted by madonnas I used to hate her but now I kinda bop to Foolish. It's What's Luv that I really still can't stand.

Originally posted by Wicked Ashanti is better than your faves. Facts.

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas was born in 1980, and raised on Long Island. (That explains the unfortunate dialect.) She was named after the powerful, influential, matriarchal Ashanti Empire of Ghana. As a child, young Shani sung in the church choir and also pursued dance; her pursuit led to performances in some of New York's most famed establishments - the Apollo, Carnegie Hall, and BAM, to name a few. At thirteen, she danced in the TV musical Polly.

Around this time, she was also sending out demos to all record labels. Jive bit, but they wanted to turn her into a proto - Britney. Shani said NO.

Bad Boy was the next up, and she even demoed/sang in front of Puffy and Biggie - but Biggie ain't ****, and Shani very wisely didn't sign with him.

She focused on school, and became a star runner. She was intent on going to college, but Epic Records expressed interest. She signed with them, and circled around a young imprint they had - Murda Inc. Records.

According to Wikipedia,

Sure thing!

Around this time, she was also sending out demos to all record labels. Jive bit, but they wanted to turn her into a proto - Britney.

Irv noticed that Shani was a writer, and asked her to offer melodic ideas to fit into the hard-hitting rap tracks they were making. She became a self-sufficient hook girl - the first of her time. She demoed some songs, appeared on some soundtracks, and then landed the hook of two of the biggest rap tracks of 2001 - 2002: the repugnant What's Luv (by Fat Joe), and her first collaboration with musical soulmate Ja Rule ....

... Always on Time.



Before there was an Iggy, Ashanti (as hook girl) held the top two spots on the Hot 100 with these two tracks.

Man 2002 was a wasteland for American pop.

It was time for Ashanti to release her first single as a solo artist - pair her with a well known DeBarge sample, and you had "magic."



It spent ten weeks (!!!!) at number one in the US, and went top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK. Me? I prefer the Unfoolish remix.

Ashanti's self-titled debut was released in April of 2002. She had, inexplicably, been in the middle of a chart war with another R&B female for the release week, and they benefited - Ashanti sold 500,000 copies in her first week.

Unfathomable, even now. Deffo some shady **** going on because no one was here for Ashanti like that!

Buoyed by later singles, the album went triple platinum.



Ashanti was the "toast of the town," regularly appearing on 106th & Park and Get Yo Black Ass Up Jacksonville, delivering monosyllabic interviews and performances riddled with stiff dancing and inconsistent singing. She won a Grammy (!!!) and was announced as the 2003 recipient of the Soul Train Entertainer of the Year award; hundreds of thousands of people signed a petition in protest.

Originally posted by Taste of Honey But, I mean...never mind. Here for Rock Wit U (Aww Baby)

She won the award anyway! Nothing could stop Ashanti!

Until a Hurricane we call Bey struck. That's pretty much the theme of this part of UOG.

But she got two cute lil hits off her second album while the hurricane was still a tropical storm!





Around this time, Irv and dem started calling Ashanti "the princess of hip-hop and R&B."

Disgusting right?

Ashanti was also so big that when Fabolous wanted to cut a record sampling So Into You, he tapped Ashanti to sing the hook.

REMEMBER THAT?!??!

Thankfully, consumer outrage forced him to change his mind and go with the original singer.

2003 brought a lot of good things Ashanti's way! She launched an acting career, appearing in the later seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and she also began dating Nelly.

2004? Not so much. Murda Inc. was failing, and she had to pay out of pocket for the video for her second single off of her third album.

But the first single? Best thing she's ever done. Using a well-employed Club Nouveau sample, Only U came out of nowhere - unlike her previous leads, it did not go top ten - but it was more critically favored.



She released a Greatest Hits to get the hell on out of there, and the single off it was Still on It.



She took some time off, appearing in major motion pictures like Coach Carter and John Tucker Must Die.

In 2008, she attempted a comeback of sorts, and had one last hit.



This did not cross over to pop charts, but was a huge hit on R&B radio!

Always on Time (with Ja Rule)
Foolish
Happy (featuring Ja Rule)
Rock Wit U (Aww Baby!)
Rain on Me
Only U
Still On It (featuring Paul Wall and Method Man)
The Way That I Love You

THESE are the Ashanti singles you'll be rating.

Originally posted by Ace Reject As a child, young Shani sung in the church choir and also pursued dance; her pursuit led to performances in some of New York's most famed establishments - the Apollo, Carnegie Hall, and BAM, to name a few. At thirteen, she danced in the TV musical Polly.