Ashanti BIOGRAPHY

Born on October 13, 1980, Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She got signed to Murder Inc. Records in 2002 after being noticed for the first time as a youngster.She had a cameo in two of the biggest hits of 2002: Ja Rule’s “Always on Time” and Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?” that year. With “Foolish” at number one and “What’s Luv?” at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 list, she became the first female artist to hold the top two spots concurrently.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

On October 13, 1980, Ashanti Douglas was born in Glen Cove, New York.Her father, Ken-Kaide Thomas Douglas, is also African-American and a former singer; her mother, Tina Douglas, is an African-American dance instructor. She has a younger sister named Kenashia “Shia” Douglas, but she is the eldest of her parents’ children.Tina wanted Ashanti to emulate the women’s authority and influence of the Ashanti Empire in Ghana, where Ashanti’s mother named her.In the 1960s, James, her grandfather, was involved in civil rights activism and was friends with Martin Luther King Jr.

CAREER

She was a featured artist on Vita’s 2001 hip-hop version of Madonna’s “Justify My Love” and on the solo tune “When a Man Does Wrong” from the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious soundtrack. Then, she appeared on the songs “What’s Luv?” by Fat Joe and “Always on Time” by Ja Rule. Released concurrently, “What’s Luv?” and “Always on Time” went on to become two of the year’s biggest hits. When “Always on Time” and “What’s Luv?” peaked at number one and number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously, Ashanti made history as the first woman to do it.

Ashanti launched her debut single, “Foolish,” after her collaborations with Ja Rule and Fat Joe were successful. The song features a sample from DeBarge’s 1983 song “Stay with Me,” which was also used by Big L in “MVP” and The Notorious B.I.G. in his 1995 track “One More Chance.” Her greatest achievement to date, ranking number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks. She made history by being the second artist (after The Beatles) to have three consecutive debut chart appearances in the Hot 100 top ten. April 2002 saw the release of Ashanti’s self-titled debut album on Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc. label. On the American Billboard 200 albums list, it made its debut at the top. The record has earned a triple platinum certification.

In July 2003, Ashanti released her second album, Chapter II which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 326,000 copies in the U.S. The album went platinum, selling over 1.5  a million copies in the U.S.

Ashanti concentrated more on her acting career in 2005. She starred as Dorothy Gale in the made-for-television film The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, which attracted over 8 million viewers upon its release, and made her feature film acting debut in Coach Carter, costarring Samuel L. Jackson. She sang the song “When I’m with You” for the movie, which received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music and Lyrics.

In 2006, she starred in the teen comedy John Tucker must die which opened and peaked at number three at the U.S. box office and the following year starred in Resident Evil: Extinction.

Ashanti returned to the music scene with “Never Too Far Away” after a four-year break. The song was used in Morgan Creek’s Dream House, which starred Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts. On December 15, 2011, the lead song from her fifth studio album, “The Woman You Love,” which features American rapper Busta Rhymes, was made available online

At a 2003 Grammy Awards press conference, Ashanti first met rapper Nelly on January 1, 2003.The two then started dating. After ten years of dating, they broke up[, however they later got back together in 2023.

NET WORTH

Ashanti is an American singer and actress who has a net worth of $5 million. Ashanti has had an incredibly successful career, making her one of the most famous women in the music industry. Her acting career is also quite impressive, and she has a number of notable credits to her name.

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