Ashanti may be best known for her self titled debut album which spawned the number 1 single ‘Foolish’, went Gold first week and won her a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B album. But the truth is that she has put out consistent, well defined R&B music ever since then.
Her 5th album, Braveheart hit stores yesterday (March 4th) through her own imprint Written Entertainment with support from eOne music. The album features contributions from Rick Ross (on 1st single ‘I Got It’), French Montana, Jeremih and Beenie Man. And while she was on her promo campaign, we were able to chat with her for a few about the album, being a CEO of her own label, her favorite songs on the album, upcoming music with Ja Rule, possibility of working with 50 Cent, whether she gets tired over media asking her about Nelly, ghostwriting for other artists and more.
And oh yes, I openly told her I had a huge crush on her.
Hey Ashanti. First off, I appreciate you taking out the time to speak to me today. How’s the promo for Braveheart going?
Aw, thank you. Oh my gosh, I’m so sleepy but that’s a good thing because it shows I been working. I’m at BET right now, just did two performances and a good interview. It’s been a packed day, I celebrated last night at VIP so have just had 45 minutes of sleep (laughs).
You’ve been grinding hard with Written Entertainment. How does it feel to have your own imprint and having control over release of your music?
It’s an amazing feeling but it’s also lot of hard work. It feels great to have control but you gotta make certain important decisions that don’t just affect my life but everybody around me. But it’s a liberating feeling to be the main person making the decisions, own my masters and be very hands on with everything going on.
Was it hard to secure features like Rick Ross, Jeremih and French Montana on the album?
Umm, fairly easy. Hey look, we got them done in the end so must not have been that hard (laughs). But it helps that I have some amazing people around me. Slow Bucks actually hooked me up with Ross and Jeremih.
What’s your favorite song on the album?
Damn, that’s a tough question. But it depends on the mood I’m in. I love ‘Nowhere’, I love ‘Love Games’, I love ‘I Got It’.
We noticed that you changed the artwork a couple of times. Was it just change of moods ?
You know what, I never really changed it. The first image that everybody saw with me wearing blue lipstick was just a promo thing we did with eOne and for some reason, someone took a screenshot of it and promoted it as the album cover. But that was never really the cover. The rest of the images were really just promo images I would post on my Instagram and people thought they were album covers. And I was just like, ‘you know what, I’ll let them run with it because the more pictures out there, the merrier.’ The current one is and was always the only official one.
You look great on the cover. You know what, I’m engaged and I always tell my fiancée that Ashanti’s been my only long time celebrity crush.
(Laughs) oh my God, thank you Navjosh!
Ha, you’re welcome. You’ve worked with LT Hutton a lot through out your 5 albums. I have a question. ‘Girlfriend’ is probably one of the best songs you’ve made. You never thought about making that a single from ‘The Declaration’?
That’s funny and a really interesting question because some people have asked me about this in the past. Had we had more support and time with that album, it would have been a nice third single. But yes, that’s definitely a fan favorite.
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You previously mentioned that you have been working with Ja Rule on some new music. What can you tell us about that?
Well, I was in the studio with Ja and I was playing some of my new album for him. He’s really proud of me, we both know what we mean to each other, both personally and musically. He’s on his campaign and I’m busy on my Braveheart campaign but we’re definitely going to find time to record another classic. Definitely look out for that.
That’ll be great. You recently that said that you’ve made up with 50. Will you be open to the idea of working with him?
(Laughs) I don’t know. That would really be something which would shock the world.
But will you be open to the idea?
I really don’t know. I know him and Joe did a record and I never saw that coming so we’ll see.
Social Media allows fans to directly interact with artists but some cross the line. What does a person have to say to get blocked by Ashanti?
Ok here’s the tricky thing. Because I ain’t gonna say what exactly they have to say because then you have dummies saying exactly that ‘cause they think they’re cute. I don’t want to bring that big block button out (laughs). But things which are disrespectful and irrelevant for no reason will get you blocked in a hot second. I have no problems doing that.
Do you get tired over fans and media constantly asking you about your relationship with Nelly?
Yes! (laughs). I mean it’s cool if one asks one or two questions but it gets annoying if they want to make the whole interview about that. And I think like ‘hey, here’s his number, why don’t you ask him that’.
Many artists claim to write songs but they often have ghostwriters. What are your thoughts on that? Have you ever ghostwritten for an artist?
Yup, I have. I think it’s just important to use your talents properly and be honest. If you wrote something, be proud of it. If you didn’t, give credit to whoever it’s due.
What are your future plans? Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I want to get into television. Music is my passion and I’m always going to continue writing but television is where the money is so I want to explore that. 5 years from now, I see myself married with kids, a giant yard with puppies and all that good stuff.
– by Navjosh