Song:Foolish
Album:Icon
Foolish was the debut single and the only number one hit for Ashanti Douglas. Her first couple of albums were huge and then she faded. Part of the problem was she was on a rap label and historically rap labels have been poor at promoting singers. Murder Inc. had a good strategy at first but it didn't last. She was born Oct. 13, 1980 in Glen Cove, NY. Her dad was a singer and her mom was a dancer. As a teen, she performed locally and appeared in the films Malcolm X and Who's The Man. After false starts with Bad Boy and Jive, Murder Inc. owner Irv Gotti signed her. At first she was a backup singer. But Gotti thought the best way to promote Ashanti was to pair her with his hottest rap star. She was featured on Ja Rule's 2001 chart topper Always On Time. And then she was featured on Fat Joe's What's Luv which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. After that, Gotti thought the time was right to release her 2002 debut CD Ashanti. Foolish was the first single and it topped the charts for ten weeks. The record was produced by Murder Inc. house producer Marcus "7 Aurelius" Vest who also produced Ja Rule. The main sample is from the Debarge song Stay With Me. The video had an all star cast led by actor Terrence Howard. The album Ashanti was certified 3XPlatinum. The success continued with the 2003 album Chapter II and the top five single Rock Wit U. She won a Grammy and Gotti used his clout to get her named Soul Train Entertainer of the Year. There was a fan protest about that. After releasing a Christmas album, Ashanti returned with the 2005 album Concrete Rose. It was certified Platinum but there were no hit singles. Ashanti appeared in some films, most notably Coach Carter. Her 2008 album Declaration was her final album for Murder Inc. The album did so poorly that Gotti released Ashanti in 2009. You can get all her hits on this budget comp. She announced plans to start her own label. She has released two albums with eOne distribution. She has a new album coming in 2018. She got some attention appearing with Ja Rule performing Helpless on the various artists CD The Hamilton Mixtape. But that's a far cry from topping the charts for ten weeks in 2002. It's unlikely she will reach those heights again. Here's the video for Foolish by Ashanti.
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