Ashanti Biography and Life Story

On October 13, 1980, in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, American R&B singer Ashanti was born as Ashanti Shaquoya Douglas into a musical family in which her father used to perform and her mother was a professional dance teacher. Before becoming a legendary artist, at age six, she first performed in a gospel choir and took dance lessons. Her musical ability often evolved when she grew up into a young girl, and so did her outward image. She danced in a performance at Carnegie Hall and in the musical “Polly.” on Disney TV during this span of time. It was in her senior high school that Ashanti sharpened her songwriting abilities and explored her talents to construct a narrative that could be connected to people, song after song. In reality, her deep and soulful voice got her the attention of business insiders who took her to an instant signing with a leadership team. With appearances at many venues, including the Soul Cafe, China Club, Madison Square Garden, Carolines Comedy Club and Greek Fest 2000 at Jones Beach, she started demonstrating her abilities.

It was her odd voice and striking appearance that gave her a recording deal at the age of 14 with Jive Records, then again at the age of 17 with Epic Records, but none of them came to fruition. Ashanti eventually signed to AJM Records and soon gained the interest of Irv Gotti of Murder Inc., a multi-platinum artist who recognised her excellent skills in singing and writing and set the way for her entrance to the world of music. The first musical appearance of Ashanti as a guest vocal on the track “How We Roll” by Big Pun was this experience. She then starred in a series of duets that in March 2002 made her a Stateside celebrity, the same era when she was featured on the single “Always On Time” from Ja Rule. In addition, she also performed on another track on Ja’s platinum CD, namely “Pain Is Love,” and collaborated with Murder Inc. recording artist Caddillac Tah on his singles “Thug Love” and “Pov City Anthem.” In addition to being featured on rapper Vita’s remix of Madonna’s notorious smash “Justify My Love” for the soundtrack of Vin Does Wrong, Ashanti went on to release a solo track titled “A Man Does Wrong”

“In early 2002, when the album “Still On Time” was published almost simultaneously by Ja Law and “What’s Luv?” by Fat Joe, it was time for Ashanti to take her big break. “Ashanti”Ashanti”Foolish”Foolish. The song apparently became the biggest success of 2002, spending eleven weeks at number one on the Hot 100 music charts, due in part to a remix named “Unfoolish,” which included Biggie’s rap, which received strong airplay on urban radio. Ashanti launched her follow-up singles “Happy” and “Baby” after she conquered the song charts, which became milder successes later in the same year. She performed along with labelmates Vita and Charli Baltimore on Ja Rule’s album named “Down 4 U,” during the summer of 2002. She teamed up with Ja Rule again the following year, in early 2003, and scored a major pop hit with “Mesmerize” whose music video parodied the premise of the hit movie “Grease.” Despite the success of the song in being a hit, Ja Rule and Ashanti received an extremely keen critic from rapper 50 Cent who blamed Ja Rule as being soft and “not a true gangsta” citing the video “Mesmerize” and its pop-culture ap. In comparison, Ashanti has also been the subject of 50 Cent detractors from the whole family of Murder Inc.