R&B singer/songwriter,
Ashanti, went from 'behind the scenes' to 'in
your face' when she was featured on hits by Ja Rule, Jennifer Lopez, and Fat Joe, and then as a solo
artist - all within a few months. Ja Rule has called her 'our
new princess of hip-hop and R&B.'
Suddenly, Ashanti's debut LP was #1 with
impressive first week sales. Prior to the
music scene, Ashanti had successes with
dancing and acting including the film Malcolm
X.
Ashanti could be heard on the
soundtrack for The
Fast And The Furious with
"When A Man Does Wrong" and
"Justify My Love" (with Vita).
# 6
Singles Artist of the Year
Ashanti with Ja Rule topped
the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Singles &
Tracks for 8 weeks and the R&B/Hip-Hop
Airplay chart for 9 weeks with "Always On Time."
Ashanti hit the
Top 40 helping out Ja Rule with "Always On Time" from his Pain
Is Love release.
Ashanti with Ja Rule topped the Billboard
Hot 100 Singles chart for 2 weeks and the Hot
100 Airplay chart for 2 weeks with "Always On Time."
Ashanti hit the
Top 10 with "Always On Time."
Ashanti hit the
Top 40 helping out Fat Joe with "What's Luv" from his LP, Jealous
Ones Still Envy (Jose).
Ashanti topped
the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Singles &
Tracks for 10 weeks with "Foolish."
Ashanti topped
the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart
for 9 weeks with "Foolish."
Ashanti hit the Top 40 solo this
time with "Foolish."
Ashanti released her debut LP - Ashanti.
Ashanti topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles chart for 10 weeks, the Hot 100
Airplay chart for 10 weeks, and the Top 40
Tracks chart for 4 weeks with "Foolish."
Ashanti topped the Billboard
200 Album chart and the Billboard
R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart. The LP sold over
500,000 copies in its first week - a record
for a first LP by a female artist.
Ashanti hit the
Top 10 with "What's Luv."
Ashanti hit the
Top 10 with "Foolish" and then hit #1 by the month's end for
2 weeks.
Ashanti with Fat Joe topped
the Billboard Top 40 Tracks chart for 2 weeks
with "What's Luv?"
Ashanti was certified 2x
platinum.
Ashanti could be heard as part
of Irv
Gott Presents The Inc.
Ashanti will be
honored at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards
with the 2002 Aretha Franklin Award as
'Entertainer of the Year for Outstanding
Achievements in the Field of Entertainment
During the Past Year.'
Ashanti hit the Top 40
with "Down 4 U" as part of Irv
Gotti Presents The Inc. featuring Ja Rule, Charlie
Baltimore & Vita
from Irv
Gott Presents The Inc.
Ashanti hit the Top 40
with "Happy."
Ashanti won a Teen Choice Award
for Choice Breakout Artist.
Ashanti's honor
with the 'Aretha Franklin Lady of Soul
Entertainer of the Year' at the Soul Train
Lady of Soul Awards became controversial when
a teenager started a petition on the internet
stating the decision to give the award to
Ashanti was not deserving. Soul Train
responded with its own statement (although
later said to be unauthorized) on their
website defending their decision and
belittling the teen's actions. Ashanti also
won the award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap
New Artist, Solo.
Ashanti's
videos were nominated for 5 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Female Video, Best R&B Video, and Best New Artist ("Foolish"), Best Hip-Hop Video ("What's Love" with Fat Joe), and Best Hip-Hop Video ("Always On Time" with Ja Rule). Ashanti performed at
the ceremony.
Ashanti hit the Top 10 with "Happy."
Ashanti could be heard
on Irv
Gotti Presents... The Remixes with
"Unfoolish," "I'm So
Happy" (with Charli Baltimore,
Young Merk, and D.O.
Cannons), "Pledge" (with Ja Rule, Nas, and 2Pac), and
"Come-N-Go" (with Caddillac
Tah and Ja Rule).
Ashanti could be heard
on Ja Rule's The
Last Temptation with "Mesmerize."
Ashanti hit the Top 40
with "Baby."
Ashanti
appeared on the NBC series American Dream
performing as Dionne Warwick.
Ashanti ended the
year as the 7th biggest selling LP of the
year with over 3 million copies sold in the
US.
Ashanti was certified 3x
platinum.
Rolling
Stone magazine readers picked Ashanti
as Best R&B Artist.
Ashanti topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Pop Artist
- Female (singles & albums), Top New Pop
Artist, Top Hot 100 Singles Artist, Top Hot
100 Singles Artist - Female, Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Artist (singles &
albums), Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist - Female
(singles & albums), Top New
R&B/Hip-Hop Artist, Top Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, Top Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay ("Foolish"), and Top Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Artist.
# 20
Singles Artist of the Year
Ashanti hit the
Top 40 helping out Ja Rule with "Mesmerize" from his LP - The
Last Temptation.
Ashanti won 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B
New Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
and was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock
Album, Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B Female
Artist, Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B Album, and
"Fan Choice" Award.
Ashanti
appeared on the TV show Buffy The Vampire
Slayer on UPN.
Ashanti hit the
Top 10 helping out Ja Rule with "Mesmerize."
Ashanti won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album (Ashanti) and was also
nominated for Best New Artist, Best R&B Vocal
Performance - Female ("Foolish"), and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("What's Love" with Fat Joe and "Always On Time" with Ja Rule). Ashanti also
performed at the ceremony.
Ashanti won 2 Soul Train Music
Awards for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female
("Foolish") and Best
R&B/Soul Album, Female (Ashanti), and was nominated
for Album of the Year.
Ashanti won a Nickelodeon Kids'
Choice Award for Favorite Female Singer.
Ashanti hit the
Top 40 with "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)."
Ashanti performed on VH1's Divas
Duets 2003.
Ashanti released her next LP, Chapter
II.
Chapter
II
topped the Billboard 200 LP chart for 2 weeks
and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 2
weeks and sold over 326,000 copies its first
week of release.
Ashanti hit the
Top 10 with "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)."
Ashanti performed on the Today
Show Summer Concert Series.
Chapter
II
was certified platinum
Ashanti's video for "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)" was nominated
for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best R&B Video.
Ashanti was nominated for 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B
Female Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album
and performed at the ceremony.
Ashanti released a holiday LP, Ashanti's
Christmas.
# 90
Singles Artist of the Year
Ashanti was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Vocal
Performance - Female ("Rain On
Me") and Best Contemporary R&B Album (Chapter
II).
Ashanti was featured on VH1's Divas
Live.
Ashanti hit the Top 40 helping
out Lloyd with "Southside" - a track from
his LP Southside.
Ashanti hit the
Top 40 helping out Ja Rule and R.
Kelly with "Wonderful."
Ashanti released her next LP, Concrete
Rose.
Ashanti hit the Top 40 with
"Only U."
# 185 on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
# 55
Singles Artist of the Year
Ashanti could
be seen in the film Coach Carter.
Concrete
Rose was certified platinum.
The single
"Only U" was certified
gold.
Ashanti could be seen in the TV
version of The
Muppets: Wizard Of Oz.
Ashanti was ordered to pay
$630,000 to a producer for breach of
contract.
Ashanti released Collectibles - a
collection of remixes and 4 new tracks.
Ashanti could be seen in the
film John
Tucker Must Die.
Ashanti released her next LP The
Declaration.
Ashanti hit the Top 40 as part
of Artists Stand Up For Cancer
with the charity single "Just Stand Up!"
Ashanti could be heard on the Nelly LP Brass
Knuckles on the track "Body On
Me."
Ashanti
released BraveHeart.
December 2: Ashanti could be
heard on The Hamilton Mixtape compilation
on the track "Helpless."