Ashanti Shaquoya Douglas better known Ashanti in the Hollywood industry is an American R&B singer. She was born on October 13, 1980 in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York. her going into the musical industry came much from her family which was also involved in the music. Her father was a singer and mother a dance instructor. She gave a start to her career at a very early age. At an age of 6 she started singing in the church choir. Practise made her perfect. As she grew, she kept honing her musical talents. While studying in the high school she also kept improving upon her song writing skills.
She first claimed to fame as a featured background vocalist on Vita's 2001 hip hop remake of Madonna's 'Justify My Love,' which appeared on the soundtrack to the movie The Fast and the Furious. Fat Joe was really impressed by her and he invited her to sing background for Big Pun's unsuccessful posthumous single 'How We Roll'. Irv Gotti, the polished producer with Murder Inc. Records, was credited with her discovery and what was supposed to be an initial collaboration, turned into a record contract. The demure and feminine Ashanti was hesitant at first to sign with a label named Murder Inc., but she filled a void in the company stable of talent. What was a pure rap label became stronger with the arrival of the R&B singer. The marketing team at Murder Inc. went to work to promote Ashanti in time for her debut release.
The fame that Ashanti was waiting for however came in the year 2002 when she was featured in the two of the biggest pop and urban hits of the year. She was featured in 'Always On Time' by Ja Rule and 'What's Luv?' by Fat Joe.
Ashanti'ser self-titled debut album was released early, on April 9, 2002. The first single "Foolish" ripped apart the charts and the video was on heavy rotation as well. 'Foolish' became 2002's biggest hit, according to Billboard, spending eleven weeks at number one on the pop charts.
As a result, Ashanti sold over half a million units the first week and debuted in the top spot, a major achievement for a relative unknown with almost no expectations on her shoulders. During the summer of 2002, Ashanti also appeared on a Ja Rule song called 'Down 4 U,' along with labelmates Vita and Charli Baltimore.
Once again the duo Ja Rule nd Ashanti teamed up and released a massive pop hit with 'Mesmerize'. Ashanti released an album called Chapter II in the year 2003. Its first single 'Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)' became one of the summer's biggest hits and its steamy video, which showed Ashanti in a bikini frolicking on a beach, was nominated for a 2003 MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video. The second single and video, 'Rain On Me', was released in the fall of 2003. The same year She returned with Chapter II, which likewise topped the Billboard album chart on the heels of its hot lead single, "Rock Wit U."
With her great singing talents Ashanti is sure to reach new heights of success.
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