Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas (born October 13 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, model, and fashion designer who rose to fame in the early 2000s. Ashanti is most famous for her eponymous Grammy Award-winning debut album Ashanti which featured the hit song "Foolish", and sold 503,000 copies in its first week of release in the U.S. in April 2002. In the same week, she became the first female performer to simultaneously hold the top two places on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "Foolish", and "What's Luv" (with Fat Joe). She broke records again by having three Top Ten songs Foolish, What's Luv, and Always on Time, with Ja Rule, on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the same week, being the first female to accomplish this feat and being second only to The Beatles. Ashanti also wrote and sang background on the song "Ain't It Funny" (Murder Remix) sung by Jennifer Lopez which was also in the top 10 charts at the same time as "Foolish", "Always on Time" (with Ja Rule), and "What's Luv" (with Fat Joe). rewind.jsp?f=The+Billboard+Hot+100&g=Singles&y=5" target="_blank">"Billboard Chart Rewind". Billboard.com. Retrieved April 2007. In 2002, she was acclaimed as the "Princess of Hip Hop and R&B." Ashanti Means War Rolling Stone. Accessed February 14, 2008. and by 2007, Ashanti had sold more than 8 million albums in the U.S., and more than 15 million records worldwide.
Ashanti cites _Mary J. Blige, Ella Fitzgerald, Yolanda Adams, the Clark Sisters and Blue Magic as her musical influences. ashanti.php?PHPSESSID=11d950583bd615bf14cf983ab7dd6344" target="_blank">"Ashanti". Murderinc-Online.com. Retrieved March 2007. "Hip-Hop Princess Lives the Dream". Clarksonintegrator.com. Retrieved November, 2007. She is currently working on her fourth studio album entitled The Declaration, which is due out the first quarter of 2008. Ashanti premiered the video for her new single "The Way That I Love You" on _MTV's TRL and BET's 106 & Park on February 27, 2008.
Ashanti, or Asante, are a major ethnic group in Ghana. The Ashanti speak Twi, an Akan language similar to Fante. For the Ashanti (Asante) Confederacy see Asanteman.
Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire in West Africa. The Ashanti later developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy and became the dominant presence in the region.
