- Ashanti (album)
-
Ashanti 
Studio album by Ashanti Released April 2, 2002
(see release history)Recorded 2001–2002
Crackhouse Studios
(New York);
SoundCastle Studios
(Los Angeles)Genre R&B, hip hop, hip hop soul, urban Length 60:59 Label Murder Inc./Def Jam Producer Eivan "Ricco" Bj (exec.)
Irv Gotti
Chink Santana
7 Aurelius
Jared Thomas
Reggie WrightAshanti chronology Ashanti
(2002)Chapter II
(2003)Singles from Ashanti Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]Los Angeles Times [2]Q [3]Rolling Stone 
[4]Slant Magazine [5]Ashanti is the self-titled debut studio album by American R&B singer Ashanti, released by Murder Inc. and Island Def Jam on April 2, 2002 in North America and April 8, 2002 in United Kingdom. The album saw the singer active in songwriting and producing,[citation needed] with chiefly producers and rappers Irv Gotti and Chink Santana.
Ashanti debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with first-week sales of an impressive 503,000 units. The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 17, 2002. It earned Ashanti three Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Ashanti also received two additional Grammy nominations in the same year for other projects, both in the category of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
Billboard magazine ranked Ashanti at number 100 on magazine's Top 200 Albums of the Decade.[6]
Ashanti mentioned on Ustream that she plans to re-release the album for its 10th anniversary in 2012. She planned on adding Tracks such as "Down 4 U" and "The Pledge" to the album which were huge hits in 2002 the same time "Foolish" "Happy" and "Baby" were on the charts.
Contents
Background
Chart performance
Ashanti debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart on April 20, 2002 and Billboard's Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart at number one with first-week sales of 503,000 units sold. The album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on December 17, 2002 and remained on Billboard 200 albums chart for 55 weeks. Ashanti has sold 3.6 million copies in the United States alone,[7] according Nielsen SoundScan. Worldwide, the album sold over 6 million copies.[8]
Singles
Ashanti spawned three singles: The album's lead single, "Foolish", became Ashanti's biggest solo successes to date, spending ten consecutive weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It was eventually ranked first on the Billboard 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles 2002 year-end charts for ten straight weeks (Tying with Nelly's "Dilemma", but not for ten straights weeks). It was a breakthrough hit internationally entering the top five in the United Kingdom, the top ten in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and Japan and the top twenty in Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Follow-up single "Happy" peaked at number eight on Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single became Ashanti's second top ten hit solo. It was a moderate success internationally, it reached the top ten in the Netherlands, the top twenty in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and the top forty in Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, and France.
The third single "Baby", peaked at number fifteen on Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single became Ashanti's third top forty hit solo.
The Forth Single was "Unfoolish" released only for radio adds. No Video, although a video was planned as a conclusion to the "Foolish" Video.
The Fifth and Final Single was "Dreams" which was released as a promo single with a Live Performance Music Video with Clips of Ashanti's career at that point.
Track listing
All songs co-written by Ashanti Douglas
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length 1. "Intro" J. Atkins, 7 Aurelius, T. Crocker, I. Lorenzo, J. Cartagena, A. Parker, C. Rios, T. Green, R. Gill 7 Aurelius 1:25 2. "Foolish" 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo, E. Jordan, M. DeBarge 7 Aurelius, Irv Gotti 3:47 3. "Happy" R. Calhouh, A. Parker, I. Lorenzo Chink Santana, Irv Gotti 4:22 4. "Leaving (Always on Time Part 2)" (featuring Ja Rule) 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo, J. Atkins 7 Aurelius, Irv Gotti 3:55 5. "Narrative Call" (skit) Irv Gotti I. Lorenzo 0:36 6. "Call" 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo 7 Aurelius, Irv Gotti 5:05 7. "Scared" (featuring Irv Gotti) A. Parker, I. Lorenzo Chink Santana, Irv Gotti 4:43 8. "Rescue" 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo 7 Aurelius, Irv Gotti 7:25 9. "Baby" 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo, M. Dean, B. Jordan 7 Aurelius 4:25 10. "Voodoo" 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo 7 Aurelius, Irv Gotti 4:37 11. "Movies" 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo, R. Wright, J. Thomas 7 Aurelius, Reggie Wright* 4:09 12. "Fight" (Over skit) I. Lorenzo Ashanti, Irv Gotti 1:18 13. "Over" A. Parker, I. Lorenzo Chink Santana, Irv Gotti 5:34 14. "Unfoolish" (featuring Notorious B.I.G) 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo, E. Jordan, M. DeBarge, S. Combs, D. Jones, R. Kelly, C. Wallace Irv Gotti 3:14 15. "Shi Shi" (skit) 0:14 16. "Dreams" 7 Aurelius, I. Lorenzo, M. DeBarge 7 Aurelius 4:18 17. "Thank You" A. Douglas 1:18 *Co-producer
Samples
- "Foolish" contains a sample of DeBarge's 1983 "Stay with Me".
- "Happy" contains a sample of Gap Band's 1983 "Outstanding".
- "Baby" contains a sample of Scarface's 1997 "Mary Jane".
- "Unfoolish" contains a sample of The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 "Fuck You Tonight".
- "Rescue" contains a sample from Michael Jackson's 1987 "Smooth Criminal"
Release history
Country Date United States April 2, 2002 United Kingdom April 8, 2002 Charts and certification
Chart (2002) Provider Peak
positionCertification Sales Japanese Albums Chart Media Control Charts 4 Gold 100,000 Austrian Albums Chart Media Control 36 Australian Albums Chart ARIA 10 Gold 35,000 French Albums Chart SNEP/IFOP 29 New Zealand Albums Chart RIANZ 17 Canadian Albums Chart CRIA/Nielsen SoundScan 15 2x Platinum 200,000 German Albums Chart Media Control 10 Swiss Albums Chart Media Control 15 Gold 20,000 UK Albums Chart BPI/The Official UK Charts Company 3 Platinum 300,000 U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 1 3x Platinum 3,600,000+ U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 1 Year-end charts
Year Chart Rank 2002 Billboard 200[9] 12 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[10] 4 2003 Billboard 200[11] 160 Awards and nominations
Year Ceremony Award Result 2002 BET Awards Best New Artist Nominated Lady of Soul Best R&B/Soul New Artist Won Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year Won Best R&B/Soul Single - "Foolish" Won R&B/Soul Album of the Year - Ashanti Won R&B/Soul Song of the Year - "Foolish" Nominated R&B/Soul Song of the Year - "Foolish" Nominated Best R&B/Soul Music Video - "Foolish" Nominated Teen Choice Awards Choice Breakout Artist Won Best New Artist Won Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Single - "Foolish" Nominated MOBO Best R&B Act Won Best Newcomer Won Best Album - Ashanti Nominated MTV Video Music Awards Best Female Video - "Foolish" Nominated Best R&B Video - "Foolish" Nominated Best New Artist in a video - "Foolish" Nominated Billboard Music Awards Female Artist of the Year Won Top New Pop Artist of the Year Won Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year Won R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year Won R&B/Hip-Hop Female Artist of the Year Won New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year Won R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year - "Foolish" Won R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist of the Year Won 2003 ASCAP Pop Music Awards Award-Winning Pop Songs - Foolish Won ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards Top R&B/Hip-hop Song - "Foolish" Won Award-Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - "Baby" Won American Music Awards Favorite New Artist in Pop/Rock Won Favorite New Artist in Hip-Hop/R&B Won Best Duo or Group - Ashanti Won Fans Choice Award Nominated Favorite Female Artist in Hip-Hop/R&B Won Favorite Album - Pop or Rock 'n Roll Music - Ashanti Nominated Favorite Album - Hip-Hop / Rhythm & Blues Music - Ashanti Nominated Grammy Awards Best New Artist Nominated Best Contemporary R&B Album R&B - Ashanti Won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance R&B - "Foolish" Nominated NAACP Image Awards Outstanding New Artist Won Outstanding Female Artist Won Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Best New Artist Won Credits
- Asif Ali – engineer
- Robert Bacon – acoustic guitar, guitar, bass guitar
- Kenneth Crouch – piano
- Chris DeLaPena – assistant
- Tony Duran – photography
- Brian "Big Bass" Gardener – mastering
- Chris G.O.T.T.I. – A&R
- Irv Gotti – producer, mixing
- Deidre Graham – marketing
- Charles "Chee" Heath – assistant
- Ja Rule – performer
- Darcell Lawrence – A&R
- Trevor Lawrence – drums
- Rosie Michel – stylist
- Milwaukee Buck – engineer
- Erica Novich – A&R
- Chink Santana – drums, multiple instruments, producer
- 7 Aurelius – engineer
- Brian Springer – engineer, mixing
- David Tan – marketing
- Jared Thomas – producer
- Tony Vanias – recording coordinator
- Glen Williams – A&R
- Reggie Wright – producer
References
- ^ "Allmusic review". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r583491. Retrieved August 2011
- ^ "Many Happy Returns to Form - Page 2 - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 2002-04-21. http://articles.latimes.com/2002/apr/21/entertainment/ca-rack21?pg=2. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ "Music: Ashanti (CD) by Ashanti (Artist)". Tower.com. 2002-04-02. http://www.tower.com/ashanti-cd/wapi/105806257. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Ashanti, slantmagazine.com. Retrieved August 2011
- ^ "Best of the 2000s - Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-decade-end/billboard-200-albums?year=2009&begin=181&order=position. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/ask-billboard-ashanti-nelly-chate-moore-1003885994.story#/news/ask-billboard-ashanti-nelly-chate-moore-1003885994.story
- ^ Norment, Lynn (2005). "Ashanti: answers critics & doubters". Ebony. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_5_60/ai_n12934945/.
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ [3][dead link]
- ^ [4][dead link]
Preceded by
A New Day Has Come by Celine DionU.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
April 20, 2002 – May 4, 2002Succeeded by
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems by Kenny ChesneyDiscography · Awards and nominations Studio albums Other albums Singles "Foolish" · "Happy" · "Baby" · "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)" · "Rain on Me" · "Breakup 2 Makeup (Remix)" · "Only U" · "Don't Let Them" · "Still on It" · "The Way That I Love You" · "Good Good"Other singles "Always on Time" · "What's Luv?" · "Mesmerize" · "Down 4 U" · "Wonderful" · "Wake Up Everybody" · "Pac's Life" · "Put a Little Umph in It" · "Body on Me" · "Just Stand Up!" · "Want It, Need It"Films Bride and Prejudice · Coach Carter · The Muppets' Wizard of Oz · John Tucker Must Die · Resident Evil: Extinction
BookCategories:- 2002 albums
- Albums produced by Chink Santana
- Albums produced by Irv Gotti
- Ashanti (entertainer) albums
- Debut albums
- Def Jam Recordings albums
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
