Ashanti.Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Throughout her decades-long career,Ashantihas scored chart-topping singles, a Grammy Award and her own star on theHollywood Walk of Fame— but not without enduring quite a bit of music industry drama along the way.
“Honestly, I’m not sure if another artist would be able to deal with what I’ve dealt with,” the R&B icon tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, opening up about the highs and lows she’s endured since hitting the scene more than 20 years ago.
“It was a little bit of a shock from just having a regular life toboom, but it was a blessing,” says the 42-year-old singer-songwriter, whose self-titled debut album sold nearly 505,000 copies in one week upon its release in 2002. “When it did pop off for me, it really popped off.”
Murder Inc.’s only female R&B artist at the time, Ashanti often found herself working in rooms as the only woman among male rappers and hip-hop artists. “I was always a tomboy, so I felt right at home with a bunch of big brothers,” she recalls, noting that the landscape came with its challenges, which she welcomed. “If there was a beat I wanted, and another rapper on the label wanted, we would have to battle it out, and whoever wrote the best record got the beat. So, it made me stronger.”
“Reading [that headline], I was just like, ‘What’s going on? We’re cool,'” she says. “Both of us, being young females that are following our dreams and doing what we loved, we were both happy for each other. It was never beef or tension.”
Ashanti.KMazur/WireImage
Throughout the trial, Ashanti looked to remain “loyal” to her “family” of colleagues and accompanied them to court — all while losing business due to her affiliation with the group. “A lot of things got pulled from under me right when I was continuing to soar,” she says.
Around the same time, Ashanti began dating rapperNellyand ventured into acting with films including 2006’sJohn Tucker Must Die. Her connection to Gotti soured, which he’s since claimed was partially the result of a romantic relationship between them abruptly ending — allegations she denies, stating there was no relationship. “I had love for Irv,” she explains. “We had our situation, but I think he blew it out of proportion.”
Murder Inc. was in flux around the release of Ashanti’s fifth albumThe Declarationin 2008, and she soon exited the collective. Then, she took a break from music and focused on acting, starring as Dorothy inThe Wizonstage in NYC in 2009. “It wasn’t a choice,” she says. “It was something that needed to happen because of everything that was going on.”
She then returned to music on her own terms, launched an independent label called Written Entertainment and released her sixth album, 2014’sBraveheart. Removing herself from Gotti’s “control,” she speculates, led him to continue speaking negatively about her in public — through today. “I think he began to get really bitter,” says Ashanti. “As a man, sometimes you get hurt. Usually you move on, but some guys aren’t able to.”
Braveheartdebuted in theBillboard200’s top 10 — an impressive feat for an independent artist. But behind the scenes, she faced other difficulties. Recently, she spoke in-depth about experiencingsexual harassment at the hands of a close-knit male music producer, with whom she created two songs. Initially, he offered her the tracks for free, before walking back on his word and giving her an ultimatum: shower with him or pay $40,000 for each song.
Ashanti.EuropaNewswire/Gado/Getty
“I really, genuinely thought he was joking. You can feel like someone’s cool, and in the back of their mind, they have an ulterior motive,” she says, hoping that sharing the story inspires other women in the music industry to remain careful before trusting collaborators. “Things like that can happen to Ashanti, so it can happen to anyone — and I’ve heard worse stories.”
Despite the hardships, Ashanti has prevailed. In recent years, she’s consistently released music (with a brand-new album in the works), acted onscreen in projects including VH1’sA New Diva’s Christmas Caroland performed her catalog to global audiences of thousands. “I just played shows in Australia, New Zealand and Dubai,” she says. “I held out the mic, and the crowd screamed ‘Foolish’ at the top of their lungs. That’s an incredible feeling after 20 years.”
She’s also working on taking her career further into her own hands with a forthcoming documentary about her life and artistry as well as are-recorded version of her debut album— which she, rather than Murder Inc., will fully own upon its release. “Hopefully, this inspires artists to know, at the end of the day, it’s so important to own your creativity,” she says.
source: people.com
