Reviews so far
Allmusic.com
Review by Andy Kellman [-]
A little over four years in the making, Braveheart is Ashanti's first album for an independent -- technically her own Written Entertainment, distributed by eOne. This, her fifth album, went through a series of delays and revised track lists, including at least one with "The Woman You Love," a charting single the singer performed on national television back in early 2012. It didn't make the final cut. Perhaps the setbacks only fortified Ashanti's embattled warrior approach to her first album since 2008's The Declaration, which was her first non-platinum release and her last work with Irv Gotti. Braveheart begins with a theatrical monologue in which she declares, among other things, "Every uphill battle and every betrayal -- the fight in me remains." After that, the album settles into her finest assortment of distressed ballads with piano and strings, playful trunk rattlers, and window-fogging slow jams, with a list of guest appearances -- one including Rick Ross, French Montana, and Jeremih -- befitting a high-priority major-label artist. Nothing jumps out quite as much as earlier hits "Foolish," "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)," or "Only U," but the material, produced by a mostly new set of Ashanti collaborators (including Sharif Slater, Mansur Zafr, and Detail), is remarkably consistent and satisfying. Although it took longer to complete than Ashanti, Chapter II, and Concrete Rose combined, Braveheart doesn't sound like it. More importantly, The Declaration's lack of success -- relative to those previous albums -- doesn't seem to have changed Ashanti's direction one bit.
- 4 stars
HIPHOPDX
Ashanti returns with "Braveheart," mixing pop, R&B, and the club. Is it a formula that still works for the Murder Inc. chanteuse?
By 2004, established female R&B artists were suffering. Mya, Brandy, Ashanti, and even Janet Jackson weren’t breaking any records with sales or radio play. There was a shift. Female R&B artists were expected to be voracious vocalists with ranges that would give those listening goose bumps. That shift was Beyoncé. No matter the differentiations and nuances among the pool of singers, after her 2003 solo debut, the paradigm shifted. The successes were the exception. Alicia Keys was a virtuoso; a singer-songwriter with the ability to play an instrument. Later that year, Keyshia Cole would be the newbie on the block with a voice that was rough as it was melismatic. The angelic vocal thinness that was predominant in contemporary R&B for the decade before had waned.
On Ashanti’s latest album, Braveheart, the album title is a direct reference to Mel Gibson’s 1995 film by the same name. In it, the Scottish fight against the English, outnumbered and outmaneuvered. Ashanti likens herself to the Scottish declaring, “A lot of people counted me out and that feeds my hunger and ignites my passion...” This is her way of declaring a comeback. It’s been six years since Ashanti’s fourth album, The Declaration, 12 years since her debut, and 11 years since her last Top 10 hit. There’s really no other way to listen to Braveheart.
- 3 Stars
So far its getting good if not VERY good reviews..
I'm so behind 
sometimes.
