Ashanti Talks New Album, Shuts Down Rumors of "confusing" Fake Title
If Ashanti has her way, her sixth studio album will be out before the end of the year. But contrary to reports, it will not be called Chapter VI.
"It's really confusing. I have no idea where that came from," the singer and actress tells Billboard. "The next album is absolutely not called Chapter VI. But the music on there is incredible. I'm really excited. I can't wait for people to hear the new music."
Ashanti is still working on the set with 15 or 16 songs recorded so far. "I'm probably in love with about six or seven of them, like IN LOVE in love," she says. "I'm working with different people, different sounds, different things on this album, just kind of going places I haven't gone before. Being an adult now, times are different. People want more of you, you know. But I'm very happy."
And she's comfortable with the idea of maybe being more personal in this batch of songs. "I can really say in time that you grow and you learn and you just become more comfortable," she notes. "There are certain things that five years ago there's no way anyone could've gotten me to say certain things, but this time around it's like, 'Hey, we're in 2016 going into 2017, and this is how I feel. This is how it is. This is where we are in life, with everything.' I'm ready to do that."
A self-described "workaholic," Ashanti has been recording primarily in Los Angeles and working with Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Mustard, J-Roc, Hit-Boy, L.T. Hutton and more. "There's so many different people. I was just thinking about my favorite records and who did them," Ashanti says. "The last two times I went out to L.A. I was only supposed to be there for a week and ended up staying for a month each time. I catch a really great vibe out there for some reason. Whenever I'm out there I go super hard."
Ashanti is equally busy on her acting front, too. She co-stars in the drama Stuck that's currently in post-production and has "three or four television projects that are in the works," two of which she's executive producing. It's been 15 years since her debut album, but Ashanti is exited about her future agenda.
"I would put myself in the lane of being extremely focused and about to embark on even more greatness," she says. "I'm so excited about the new projects coming up - the new music coming up, the new television stuff coming, the new films coming. I'm really grateful, and I'm just really excited for the next part, the next chapter."
Ashanti on MusiCares awards ceremony Source: BillBoard
2016-08-12
Ashanti Posts "Altercation" to Snapchat, With Ja Rule in the Car
Ja Rule and Ashanti were involved in some sort of altercation on Monday night, according to a series of Snapchat videos from Ashanti’s account.
In the video, the R&B/hip-hop artists (who collaborated on the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit "Always on Time" back in 2001) are in a car when they encounter a slight altercation. It's unclear what prompted the mini-quarrel, but Ashanti is heard asking, “Why are you asking us to step out of the car? I don’t understand, what is the problem?”
The artist assured fans in a later Snapchat video that, despite the incident, “It’s all good.”
Billboard reached out to Ashanti’s rep for further comment but did not hear back before press time.
Ja Rule and Ashanti are currently gearing up to begin their Ja Rule & Ashanti Tour, which is set to begin Aug. 25 in New York. Source: BillBoard
2003-08-07
50 Cent to perform at MTV Video Music Award
50 Cent and Good Charlotte have been added to the line-up for this year's MTV Video Music Awards.
They'll join Coldplay and Christina Aguilera to perform at the event in New York on August 28, says the BBC Radio1 website.
P. Diddy, Ashanti, Snoop Dogg, and Bam Margera from Jackass have been announced as celebrity presenters.
Among those presenting awards will be Kelly Clarkson, Redman, Evanescene, Hilary Duff, Ludacris, Tony Hawk, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and LeBron James.
Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake head up the nominations at the ceremony which will be shown on MTV UK on August 30.
Source: Ananova
