Ashanti Bio (Biography)
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Ashanti is a famous American singer-songwriter who has also made moves into acting and the world of fashion design. She became well known as a singer during the early twentieth century and as of early 2007 has won one Grammy with eight nominations.
Ashanti was born Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas in Glen Cove, New York on October 13, 1980. Interested in music from a young age, Ashanti sang in the church choir, wrote songs during high school, and studied dance at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center. At the age of fourteen Ashanti got her first record contract with Jive Records as a result of her mother's support mailing demo tapes to various labels.
While this first attempt at the music industry didn't work - the label wanted her to sing basic pop songs that didn't show off her real abilities, and her next offer in 1998 from Epic Records let her down as well, Ashanti continued trying to break into the industry. She finally found success working as a background vocalist on rap albums when two Ja Rule songs that she sang on both became huge hits for the year of 2002. For a time, these songs "What's Luv?" and "Always on Time" were the first and second most popular songs on the Billboard chart, making Ashanti the first female to hold the top two positions simultaneously.
Ashanti released a debut single "Foolish" which quickly made it to the top ten alongside her other two hits, and quickly came out with the album "Ashanti", which sold over half a million copies in the first week, becoming the number one selling album in the United States and achieving the highest first week sales for an R&B female artist. Since then as of early 2007, "Ashanti" has sold nearly seven million copies. Ashanti's next album "Chapter II", as been about half as successful, but has still provided several top ten hits.
Ashanti continues to release albums and produce chart topping singles, with her recent albums including "Ashanti's Christmas", "Concrete Rose" and "Collectables". She has also acted in movies such as "Coach Carter", "John Tucker Must Die", and the upcoming "Resident Evil: Extinction".
Ashanti was born Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas in Glen Cove, New York on October 13, 1980. Interested in music from a young age, Ashanti sang in the church choir, wrote songs during high school, and studied dance at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center. At the age of fourteen Ashanti got her first record contract with Jive Records as a result of her mother's support mailing demo tapes to various labels.
While this first attempt at the music industry didn't work - the label wanted her to sing basic pop songs that didn't show off her real abilities, and her next offer in 1998 from Epic Records let her down as well, Ashanti continued trying to break into the industry. She finally found success working as a background vocalist on rap albums when two Ja Rule songs that she sang on both became huge hits for the year of 2002. For a time, these songs "What's Luv?" and "Always on Time" were the first and second most popular songs on the Billboard chart, making Ashanti the first female to hold the top two positions simultaneously.
Ashanti released a debut single "Foolish" which quickly made it to the top ten alongside her other two hits, and quickly came out with the album "Ashanti", which sold over half a million copies in the first week, becoming the number one selling album in the United States and achieving the highest first week sales for an R&B female artist. Since then as of early 2007, "Ashanti" has sold nearly seven million copies. Ashanti's next album "Chapter II", as been about half as successful, but has still provided several top ten hits.
Ashanti continues to release albums and produce chart topping singles, with her recent albums including "Ashanti's Christmas", "Concrete Rose" and "Collectables". She has also acted in movies such as "Coach Carter", "John Tucker Must Die", and the upcoming "Resident Evil: Extinction".