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Celebrated Grammy award-winning singer Ashanti Douglas has announced that she will re-record her 2002 self-titled hit album as an independent artist.
The singer has good reason to take her fans down memory lane, the album has been one of her biggest successes to date, and contains her hit single 'Foolish'.
It won her the Best Contemporary RnB album at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2002, along with a BillBoard Music award for Top Female Artist in that year. When the album was released, it sold more than 500,000 copies within the first week.
Locally, her chic, danceable songs were a staple on our screens. She came together with the famous rapper Ja Rule to release several hit songs, forming one of the biggest music duos of the early 2000s.
The singer made the big revelation during an interview at the Tamron Hall show yesterday, saying that she is finally able to actualise that vision because she now owns the Masters to the album.
This means that the star owns all the music she has written and released on the album.
“I have an amazing legal team. I was first signed to a record label at the age of 14. Seeing how things have changed so much from then to now; conceptually understanding what you are signing is so important,” Ashanti said.
She added: “The fact that I’ll be able to re-record my album and put everything together is such a blessing, I am grateful. The fact that we are still here and living through a pandemic and these blessings are still coming in makes me so humbled,” she said, opening up about the surreal experience of owning the work that catapulted her to international stardom.
The singer also talked on how she created the album in the basement of her house.
"I wanted to feel like I had my own apartment. So I used to be downstairs in my own section and I would put on the Cartoon Network on mute and I would just write,” she said. “It allowed me to kind of get into my zone.”
The singer has maintained relevance and fame throughout her career that spans over 30 years. She is also a celebrated actress and has starred in films like John Tucker Must Die and Resident evil.
In June this year, the singer celebrated the news that she would be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“Wow… I’m speechless,” the singer wrote on Instagram.
“Super humbled and super honored. I still can’t believe it. Thank you guys so much for all of the love and continued support throughout the years. Thank you to my amazing team this wouldn’t be possible without all of you. Thank you to The Hollywood Walk of Fame!”
Other inductees to the 2022 walk of fame were celebrated actors Michael B Jordan, Regina King and Tracey Elise Ross. The late rapper Nipsey Hussle is also set to receive a star posthumously.
Ashanti’s Grammy-winning project was released in 2002 and hit number 1 on the BillBoard Hot 200, spending 55 weeks on the chart.
The singer released five albums under Murder Inc. label, where she was signed at the time.
