Ashanti [PA]

Performer: Ashanti
Artist: Ja Rule; Irv Gotti
Engineer: Milwaukee Buck; Asif Ali; 7 Aurelius; Brian Springer
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Ashanti (vocals); Ja Rule, Irv Gotti (rap vocals); 7, Chink Santana (various instruments); Rob Bacon (guitar); Butch Smalls (percussion). Producers: 7, Chink Santana, Irv Gotti. ASHANTI won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Ashanti was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. "Foolish" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Personnel: Robert Bacon (guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar); Kenneth Crouch (piano); Chink Santana, Trevor Lawrence (drums). Audio Mixers: Irv Gotti; Brian Springer. Recording information: Crackhouse Studios, New York, NY; Soundcastle Studios, LA. Photographer: Tony Duran. The young R&B thrush Ashanti makes an impressive showing on her self-titled debut album. Unlike many of her peers, Ashanti doesn't resort to vocal histrionics; this siren is more concerned with communicating the emotion of a song than showing off her chops. In fact, the reigning mood on this disc is a gauzy, slow-burn feel that makes the most of Ashanti's sensual, low-key style. Often she seems to be whispering right into your ear. Though there's an undercurrent of hip-hop-influenced production, that simmering, late-night feel remains consistent through the torch ballad "Foolish" (when will these spurned lovers learn?), the considerably less tortured "Happy," and the irresistible come-on of "Movies." Perhaps most telling of all, however, is the closing track "Thank You," which affords us the opportunity to hear Ashanti sing unaccompanied, revealing in plain sight the considerable pipes whose strength she tastefully downplays to fine effect throughout ASHANTI.

Rolling Stone (12/26/02, p.102) - Included in Rolling Stone's "The 50 Best Albums of 2002" - "...Overflows with dimmed-lighting delights..." Rolling Stone (12/26/02, p.102) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2002" - "...Overflows with dimmed-lighting delights..." Q (p.132) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[H]er midtempo love, with its satin-y mid-'80s sheen, is phenomenally slick and intelligent."

Beginning her career as a featured back-up singer on tracks by Jah Rule, Jennifer Lopez, Big Pun, and a host of other Irv Gotti/Murder Inc. projects, Ashanti's solo career exploded upon the release of her self-titled Murder Inc. debut, which topped the Billboard charts the week of its release. Various award nominations and wins later, the singer released CHAPTER II, which also debuted at number one. The juggernaut that was her career slowed just a bit for the release of 2004's CONCRETE ROSE, but film and television work, as well as song writing and producing credits kept her firmly fixed in the spotlight, and solidified her position as one of the most powerful women in hip-hop and R&B.

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