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Ashanti (born '''Ashanti Shequoyia Douglas''' on October 13 , 1980 ), is an American , Grammy winning, R&B Singer / Songwriter , Actress , Producer , and Author who rose to fame during the early 2000s . BIOGRAPHY Early life Ashanti was born on Glen Cove , Long Island to Ken Kaide and Tina Douglas, the product of multi-racial parents. Her father being half African-American and half Chinese-American and her mother, three-quarters Dominican and quarter African-American. Upon graduation from high school, Ashanti was accepted into Hampton University and Princeton University , but turned down a Track & Field Scholarship to pursue her Singing Career . During her search for fame, Ashanti trained as a dancer at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, learning a number of dance styles. She danced most notably in Disney's Polly, which starred Phylicia Rashad , and also appeared in a number of big-name music videos, in addition to other dance work. As an actress, she made a name for herself with roles in Spike Lee's Malcolm X and Who's da Man before that. Early career Ashanti was brought into the public eye as a featured background vocalist on Big Pun 's "How We Roll" and on tracks from '' The Fast And The Furious '' Soundtrack. Vita 's 2001 hip-hop remake of Madonna's " Justify My Love " & Ashanti's "When A Man Does Wrong". After Big Pun joint Fat Joe got Ashanti to do a track titled "What's Luv?", Ashanti moved on to record "Always on Time" and then "Foolish". Ashanti also sang background vocals on the 2001 Collaboration between Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule , I'm Real (Murder Remix) . The big break, however, did not come until early 2002 , when, almost simultaneously, Ja Rule released "Always On Time" and Fat Joe released "What's Luv?". They were two of the biggest Pop and Urban hits of the year, and both featured Ashanti. At one point, her hit with Ja Rule sat at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart while her Fat Joe collaboration was at #2. She was the first female to occupy the top 2 positions on the Billboard 100 as a featured female artist. - Info from The Inc Recordings Debut album: ''Ashanti'' Shortly after the success of her collaborations with Fat Joe and labemate Ja Rule, Ashanti released her debut single, " Foolish ", containing a sample of the 1983 song "Stay With Me" by DeBarge (also utilized by The Notorious B.I.G. in his 1995 #2 hit "One More Chance"). This accomplishment made Ashanti the only artist, other than The Beatles , to have his/her first three chart entries in the top 10 simultaneously. " Foolish " also became 2002's biggest hit according to Billboard , spending ten weeks at #1, due in part to a remix titled " Unfoolish ", which featured a rap by The Notorious B.I.G. and received heavy pop, rhythmic, and urban radio airplay. The new artist released her self-titled debut album, '' Ashanti '', on Irv Gotti 's Murder Inc. record label in 2002 . Ashanti debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling an astounding 504,000-plus copies in its first week (the most successful first week sales for a debut female artist). The album sold well over 2 million copies a month after it's release. With all this chart-topping, Ashanti set some sales records and her success continued. Ashanti's follow-up singles, ''"'' Award. From 2002-2005 Ashanti has already been awarded 22 music awards for her achievements. She also had one of the biggest selling albums of the year selling more than 3 million copies of ''Ashanti''. Also being in the top 5 best selling female artist of 2002. Reaching all of this success after just a few months in the business. In early 2003 , Ja Rule and Ashanti teamed up again and scored a massive pop hit with "Mesmerize". The music video for the hit single was a parody to a scene of the movie '' Grease ''. Later that year Ashanti also teamed up with Fabolous on the track ''Into You'', the track reached #4 on U.S. Billboard. Ashanti was replaced by singer - Tamia in the video, due mostly to scheduling problems Ashanti's debut album has sold over 7 million copies worldwide. ''Chapter II'' In 2003, Ashanti released her sophomore album titled '' Chapter II ''. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with more than 326,000 copies sold in the disc's first week of release causing Beyoncé Knowles ' "Dangerously In Love" disc to fall to #2 that same week. In only a few weeks, Ashanti's Chapter II was certified Platinum. Chapter II's first single, '' "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)" '', became one of the summer's biggest hits peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 , singles chart. Its steamy video, which showed Ashanti in a bikini frolicking on a beach and riding an elephant, was nominated for two 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video And Best R&B Video . The second single and video, "Rain On Me", was released in the fall of 2003. The video featured her second celebrity leading man, ''Lorenz Tate''. Although the single was just as successful as "Rock Wit U" at pop radio, it still managed to reach the top 10, peaking at #7 on Billboard's Hot 100 . Ashanti also appeared and performed at the 2003 Divas Live in May '03. She performed her hit single Rock With You (Aww Baby), performed a duet with legend Stevie Wonder and with the Isley Brothers on a newer version of their hit "Who's That Lady?". Ashanti released the third single from ''Chapter II'', "Breakup 2 Makeup"; its almost complete lack of video and radio airplay along with the flop of her 2003 Christmas album, '' Ashanti's Christmas '', called for Ashanti to make few appearances for the rest of the year. ''Chapter II'''s Platinum success had been somewhat eclipsed by all the negative drama surrounding the Murder Inc . camp at the time (including an FBI investigation). Despite selling over 3 million copies of ''Chapter II'', compared to her debut album, Ashanti's sophomore album did meet the expectations of critics and fans. She was also the top selling artist on her Murder Inc. label. ''Concrete Rose'' In 2004 , Ashanti appeared in three more collaborations. Her first, with male R&B newcomer and labelmate Lloyd . The duet, "Southside", was released as his debut single; it was a moderate hit at American radio and video channels during the summer reaching the top 20 on Billboard 100 . Ashanti was then featured, along with R. Kelly , on Ja Rule 's single "Wonderful". The single was a success for Ja Rule peaking at #3 on the Billboard 100. The third collaboration featuring Ashanti was with rapper Shyne on a song called "Jimmy Choo". The video reached #1 on the BET countdown '' 106 & Park ''. Ashanti released her third studio album, '' Concrete Rose '', in December of 2004 . Although neither the album nor its singles were as successful as her previous work, the album did manage to debut at #7 in the Billboard 200 with more than 254,000 copies sold its first week. Its first single, "Only U", went Gold and reached the #13 of the Hot 100. In the UK, the single became the highest peaking single of her career so far, making #2, just missing out on the top spot. The follow-up single "Don't Let Them" did not fair well. It only a managed a #38 peak in the UK, her lowest position to date and it did not even chart in the U.S. The single's video, however, managed to climb to number 2 on TRL. '' Concrete Rose '' went Platinum. Once again, she was the highest selling artist on her label. ''Collectables'' On December 6 , 2005, Ashanti released a compilation album titled '' Collectables By Ashanti ''. The album features six remixes of her previously released tracks and four newly recorded songs including the single "Still On It" featuring rappers Paul Wall and Method Man . Ashanti's "Collectables" did not collect many records sales during its first week online struggling to land at #59 on the Billboard 200 selling about 36,000 copies in its first week. Fragrance/Clothing line Ashanti has followed in the footsteps of her fellow peers by launching her own new fragrance line, '' Precious Jewel By Ashanti '' on October 2, 2005. In 2005 Ashanti also signed an exclusive deal with Sears to release her own brand of jeans titled '' Delicious Curves ''. The jeans quickly became another instant hit for Ashanti selling out in no time. VOICE Unlike many other singers with the ability, Ashanti, while possessing a clear, girly, Coloratura Soprano voice, has built a career singing in the lower and middle ranges of her voice, especially when a featured guest vocalist on a rap artist's track. This had caused a degree of speculation that Ashanti could not really sing, had limited range or that she was a studio creation of Ja Rule and Irv Gotti . In fact, as of late, Ashanti has used her head register so infrequently, many who haven't heard her sing before she signed with Murder Inc would mistakenly classify her as a classic example of a Soubrette as defined by her girly, light vocals, combined with her slender appearance. ACTING CAREER After having success with her music career, Ashanti has also ventured into acting. In 2004 , she appeared in the Gurinder Chadha -directed English-language Bollywood movie '' Bride And Prejudice '' where she sang "My Lips Are Waiting". In January 2005 , Ashanti made her feature film acting debut in the movie '' Coach Carter '' alongside Samuel L. Jackson . The movie entered at #1 at the box office pulling in $24 million opening weekend. The movie grossed over $67 million. She is slated to star in a new movie '' John Tucker Must Die '' in 2006, starring alongside Desperate Housewives star Jesse Metcalfe . John Tucker Must Die is scheduled to be released in US theaters July 28, 2006. FILMOGRAPHY Film
TV
DISCOGRAPHY Albums
Singles Others GRAMMY AWARD HISTORY Career Stats
AWARDS Below are a list of awards received by the R&B singer Ashanti . 2002
2003
2004
ASHANTI FACTS
SEE ALSO FANPAGE LINKS
OTHER LINKS
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