Ashanti

Plies Talks New Video, 'Emotional' Records

14 Jan 2009 15:05:00 EST

'I just opened up my whole life,' rapper says of songs on Da Realist.
By Shaheem Reid

Plies
Photo: MTV News

"Everybody is calling it a #1 record," Plies said recently on the Atlanta set of the video for his song "Want It, Need It." The clip, which features Ashanti, reworks the 1987 R&B classic "Two Occasions." "It's a hell of a record — an old Babyface sample. ... Actually, it was the Deel that first used it; Babyface used it after that. It's one of those records that people in the radio world considered a 'first-listen record.' It's me being me. It's a female-driven record to a certain extent, but it's me speaking to the goons as usual. I think that chemistry is something that always works for me. A lot of stations already jumped out and are banging the record." "Oh boy, I think of you on two occasions/ That's when I want it/ That's when I need it," Ashanti sings on the chorus. "I'm on call for you seven days a week," Plies raps. "Sex on delivery, S.O.D." Records like these off his latest, Da Realist, are a reason why Plies isn't in too much of rush to release a new album. His first three LPs came within several months of each other, which is swift turnaround, even for a hip-hop artist. "This 'Street Light' record with Sean Garrett is a monster. 'Plenty Money,' 'F--- U Gon' Do 'Bout It,' I've been hearing is a classic," Plies said about the reaction to his LP, which dropped on December 16. "I'm gonna gage the temperature on it. I'm gonna see where this third album takes me. With the economy being how it is, you have to be more patient — especially in the urban field. When you look at the changes going around the country, I don't think the pop side is experiencing [the sales decline] what we're experiencing on the hip-hop side. I look at my situation for what it's worth." Da Realist's most 'emotional' record, according to its author, is "Family Straight." On it he talks about a myriad of his loved ones' trials and tribulations. "Last 10 years momma been working twice a day," the Fort Myers, FL native raps on the chorus. "Grandma on the kidney machine, she done lost all the weight/ My auntie go AIDS, she starting to lose her faith/ My brother back in prison, second time he done gone away/ My daddy still smoking that sh-- I can see it in his face/ My lil' cousin, 16, pregnant from a n---a 38..." "It's a gift that God has given me that I thank him for a on a day-to-day basis," Plies explained. "I think it's so important for me to open myself up to this country and put my pain on records. People use my words of encouragement for therapy, and I feel like on this particular record, I just opened up my whole life. To match the visuals with it, it's probably one of the most jumped-on viewed videos of my career. This record is s a no-brainer record. It's a personal record and it's reality situations in my life right now. I was in Atlanta and I got the call from my mom — she was crying — that my grandmother's heart had stopped. That's the person I was talking about in the song."

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Kanye West, T.I. React To Chris Brown's Arrest

10 Feb 2009 17:16:00 EST

Ashanti and Lionel Richie also weigh in on Brown, Rihanna's alleged altercation.
By Shaheem Reid

Kanye West
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Chris Brown and Rihanna's families, friends and fans aren't the only ones upset by the alleged altercation between the two. The information has rocked the music industry. As details have begun to emerge about the incident, their peers have reacted.

"I was completely devastated by the concept of what I heard," Kanye West told Ryan Seacrest Tuesday morning (February 10) during a radio interview. West said he was so upset by the news that even affected him during his performance of "American Boy" at the Grammy Awards on Sunday. "I was completey devastated during the performance," he said. "All I will say is it's so devastating. I feel like, just as a person, I don't care how famous she is, or even if she worked at McDonald's, that should have never happened. It should have never come to that place." West said he saw both performers at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party on Saturday night, and that he is on closer terms with Rihanna. "I know Rihanna a bit better because I went on tour with her and we vibed out on a lot of creative ideas with the touring," he said. "I gave her all these references of Grace Jones and [photographer] Jean-Paul Goude, back in the '80s when pop stars took it to a whole 'nother level. I felt and feel like Rihanna is so important to our culture, to pop music. I feel that she is the most important artist in music and has the most potential. For her taste level at her age and the songs she does and her style. She has the potential to be the greatest artist of all time. In that sense, I feel like she's my baby sis, and I would do any and everything to help her in any situation." Monday night on "Last Call With Carson Daly," T.I. said he has spoken with Brown since the incident happened. "I spoke to him today," Tip said. "He's cool, you know. He's a little concerned about the situation, but he's still the same Chris." Tip said despite conversing with Brown, he still didn't know what had happened, but he offered advice to the singer.

"I told him, 'This too shall pass.' We're celebrities, we're entertainers, but we're still human — all of us," he said. "Don't expect us not to make mistakes, because we will." Following his appearance on "Last Call," T.I. released a statement to MTV News expressing regret for his comments on the incident. "After careful consideration, I realized I made the mistake of commenting before understanding the situation," the statement read. "I myself am no stranger to media scrutiny. My only intention was to support both Rihanna and Chris during these times. My heart goes out to both of them. Someone who is all too familiar with having a domestic dispute plastered across the headlines is Lionel Richie, whose ugly confrontations with his now-ex-wife Brenda ultimately resulted in her arrest in 1988. Richie advised both Brown and Rihanna to not run away from what happened. "You'll go through adversity," he offered. "You're gonna have it. You're gonna have difficulty. Stand up, face it. Look right in the camera, say, 'Yes, I did it,' then back out of it. Keep going. That's all you can do. Because now, there's no more secrets. You can't hide anything anymore. "You can't get away now," he continued, analyzing how much the media has changed over the past two decades. "It took a minute ... when you could practice your integrity thing, you could practice your mistakes, before the world even heard about it. Now, whatever mistake you make, it's out there. It's a different kind of vibe. I wouldn't want to deal with it right now, not learning the business and life at the same time with that thing [camera] pointing at you every five minutes. All I can say is it's here, it's now, deal with it." Ashanti, whose critically acclaimed song "Rain on Me" dealt with domestic violence, said "I definitely wish them the best. There's a lot of things that's alleged. Nobody knows what going on. They're young. I hope everything's all right for the both of them." Get resources and information about domestic violence, or check out Think MTV for a video handbook on spotting the warning signs of abuse.

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Ashanti Studying Diana Ross' Performance To Prepare For 'The Wiz'

30 Apr 2009 17:23:00 EDT

'I watched the DVD twice already,' she says of getting ready for New York City Center production.
By Jocelyn Vena

Photo: Dr. Billy Ingram/ WireImage

Ashanti knows a thing or two about visiting Oz. Not only has she played Dorothy in the Muppets version of "The Wizard of Oz," but she also played the Wicked Witch of the West for a charity production of "Wicked." So this summer, when she reprises her role as Dorothy in the NY City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of "The Wiz," a role made famous by Diana Ross in the 1978 movie version, the singer will spend a lot of time in front of her TV to do some research. "I'm excited. I watched the DVD twice already," she told MTV News. "I'm definitely going to have it on repeat." Ashanti is using her nerves to prepare for the part. "I think it's definitely going to be pressure, but in a good way. Broadway is so prestigious, and just getting that experience and getting to work with more seasoned actors is exciting," she said. "Broadway, it's a horse of a different color." Although she's had some experience in the role of Dorothy, the last time around she was acting alongside Muppets. She said she would jump at the chance to get Diana Ross' advice. "I actually saw her," Ashanti recalled. "I did a Cartier event last year, and she performed, and I was like, 'Oh, my God!' She was so sweet and so down to earth." Ashanti said that she doesn't know who else will be in the production, which will run from June 12 through July 5 at the New York City Center, but she did have a suggestion for the role of Toto. "What's so funny is that I have my own teacup Yorkie named Mimi," she said. "And I'm like, 'Can they just let me use Mimi?' "

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Irv Gotti Says He's Dropping Ashanti From The Inc.

07 May 2009 18:54:00 EDT

'The relationship has run its course,' label head says.
By Shaheem Reid

Irv Gotti
Photo: MTV News

Irv Gotti says he and Ashanti, the Princess of the Inc., will soon be parting company. He said they haven't been on speaking terms for some time, and the label head/reality-TV star says there's nothing he can do but end their musical and business affiliation. "The relationship has run its course," Gotti explained earlier this week while visiting the MTV offices. "The chemistry of what's needed — we're in two totally different places. You're talking to somebody that took her and shaped and molded her and put her out there for the world, and it blew up. We [hold the record] for the [fastest] selling debut by a female R&B artist — 503 [thousand]. We did it! My views and philosophies and her views and philosophies are not meeting up."

Ashanti's last LP, The Declaration — her first in four years — came out in June of last year on the Inc. and was created with virtually no input from Gotti. The album was her first in-studio project not to go platinum. Gotti says it's because the singer deviated from their winning formula and tag-team effort. "I personally believe for her to be successful, it took the energy ... when you seen her, it was 30 n---as around her, and she's the princess so nice and pretty walking through," he said. "The music was great, but it was the energy that was created. It wasn't just her standing there and singing a song. "We don't really speak or talk or anything like that," he continued. "It's sad in a way. But in another, it's like it's all good." Well, maybe not that good. Gotti said it is best for them to part ways. "I don't think she can win. She needs some guidance with that," Gotti added. "But she's not thinking like that. Really, I couldn't tell you what she's thinking. So that relationship has run its course and honestly, I'm gonna just drop her." At press time, a rep for Ashanti had not granted MTV News' requests for comment. Gotti told MTV News that he's maintained the rights to all of his artists, including Ashanti, Lloyd and of course Ja Rule. The exec says he's working on a deal to reunite with his fellow Def Jam alumni Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles and Julie Greenwald over at the Warner Music Group. He says new albums by Lloyd, new rapper Newz and Rule are in the cooker. He explains the delay of Rule's The Mirror is because they are trying to craft a classic LP.

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Ashanti Is Rehearsing For NYC 'Wiz' Production 'In My Room'

19 May 2009 16:47:00 EDT

R&B singer says performing the song 'Home' for a crowd 'makes it realistic.'
By Jocelyn Vena

Ashanti
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Come June 12, Ashanti will be easing on down the road as Dorothy during a three-week stint in "The Wiz" at the New York City Center. And until she begins rehearsals next week, the Grammy-winning singer is just spending time at home, working on the role made famous by Diana Ross. "We don't start rehearsals until next Monday, so I'm at home rehearsing in my room," she told MTV News at a press conference for "The Wiz," where she sang the song "Home" from the show. "But it feels great to be out here and to sing 'Home' for the very first time in front of a crowd. It makes it realistic, and it kind of hits home, ironically."

Although she still has a few weeks until she makes her debut as Dorothy, Ashanti is excited that night after night, she'll get the chance to sing "Home." "I think so many people relate to that song on so many different levels. Obviously, for me, being gone and traveling so much, you miss home, and you get a sense of 'I miss it,' so when I'm there, I take advantage," she said. "Then again, so many people are able to relate to it." The cast includes Orlando Jones ("Mad TV") as the Wiz and LaChanze (Broadway's "The Color Purple") as Glinda. Ashanti can't wait to start working with them. "Just jelling with the rest of the cast when we do our read and the script is hilarious. I didn't think it was going to be that funny, but it's really, really great," she said. "So just to hear the real voices and put the faces to the characters is going to be great." Ashanti is no stranger to the Land of Oz. She previously made trips there as Dorothy in the Muppets version of "The Wizard of Oz" and as the Wicked Witch of the West for a charity production of "Wicked." "I don't know [why I keep visiting Oz]," she said. "They look at me like I'm Dorothy. That's going to be my new nickname!"

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Ashanti Says It Was 'Great' Performing With Ja Rule At VH1's 'Hip-Hop Honors'

14 Oct 2009 18:15:00 EDT

'I've been working with a lot of people,' singer says of upcoming album.
By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Shaheem Reid

Photo: MTV News

Ashanti and Ja Rule were among the many who took to the stage during VH1's "Hip Hop Honors" celebration that paid tribute to Def Jam Records. The former standout stars on the label performed their hit, "Down A-- Chick." Together they ruled the charts during their Def Jam run, scoring hits from both of their albums separately and in collaboration. So reuniting for the festivities wasn't a hard thing to do, according to Ashanti.

"It's been great," she told MTV News before the show. "I haven't performed with Ja since — I can't even remember it's been so long. We talked to each other on the phone and we said, 'Yo, we gonna make it hot! It's gonna be like old times.' It feels good. When we did the rehearsal, the chemistry was there." Next up the songstress is readying a new album, her first since parting ways with Irv Gotti and Murder Inc. Records earlier this year. The untitled project is slated for release next year on her own Written Entertainment imprint, she said. For her forthcoming album, her fifth overall, Ashanti said she's working with a mix of new and familiar faces, including the writer behind her last album's biggest hit, "The Way That I Love You." "I've been working with a lot of people," she said. "These new producers, The American Dream, Warren Campbell, L.T. [Hutton] again, who did my last single. So it's been good." In May Irv Gotti confirmed to MTV News that Ashanti would be parting ways with the Inc. The move was expected after her last album, The Declaration, was put together with little input from her former label head. Gotti said it's no longer possible for the pair to create music. "The relationship has run its course," Gotti explained at the time. "The chemistry of what's needed — we're in two totally different places. You're talking to somebody that took her and shaped and molded her and put her out there for the world, and it blew up. We [hold the record] for the [fastest] selling debut by a female R&B artist — 503 [thousand]. We did it! My views and philosophies and her views and philosophies are not meeting up."

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Mixtape Daily: Rick Ross, Game, Ludacris, More

05 Feb 2010 23:00:58 EST

Rick Ross
Photo: Nigel Degraff

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Ashanti Fan Gets Two Years In Jail For Lewd Texts

19 Feb 2010 18:25:00 EST

Devar Hurd barraged singer's mother/manager with text messages.
By Hillary Crosley

Photo: MTV News

An Ashanti fan was sentenced to two years in jail Thursday for sending lewd text messages to the singer's mother, according to The Associated Press. Devar Hurd barraged Ashanti's mother, Tina Douglas, with lewd messages about her daughter, including snapshots of his genitals and the Douglas family home. "My intent was not to harm," the 31-year-old told the court according to the AP. "I always wish the best for [Ashanti]." Hurd was convicted of aggravated harassment and stalking in December 2009. "We're really so glad to have this behind us, and we feel justice has been served," Douglas said through a spokesperson. Hurd's messages, which he described as jokes about how he'd one day live with Ashanti's family, frightened Douglas so much that she hired additional security. She says she told Hurd numerous times that she did not know him and unsuccessfully asked that he leave her alone. Still, Hurd, a native of Griffith, Indiana, did not betray a convincing enough psychiatric problem to garner psychological treatment from to the jury. However, following his conviction, doctors classified Hurd as suffering from a delusional disorder, according State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber, but the mental-health treatments were moot because Hurd could not find a New York residence to continue his treatment. In response, the judge handed down the maximum sentence for Hurd's misdemenor crimes in hopes of him receiving pyschiatric care in confinement. Still, Hurd's prosecutors weren't satisfied. "Even if he believes that Ashanti was in love with him, his conduct was not that of a man wooing a woman," said Assistant District Attorney Carolina Holderness. "He was not sending her flowers." Hurd has been incarcerated since his July 2009 arrest, and his time served will count toward his sentence.

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Eminem's 'Love The Way You Lie' Isn't First Video To Deal With Domestic Abuse

06 Aug 2010 15:56:17 EDT

Ludacris, Eve, Ashanti, Dixie Chicks have also dealt with the issue in their clips.
By Gil Kaufman

Rihanna performs in front of a burning house while filming a music video with Eminem for "The Way You Lie" on July 20
Photo: Danny Mayer/ Eric Ford/ On Location Photos

The shocking images of domestic violence in the new Eminem/Rihanna video for "Love the Way You Lie" have sparked a heated debate online about the depiction of an abusive relationship in a music video. And though Slim Shady has chronicled his contentious relationship with twice-ex-wife Kim Mathers throughout his career, the "Lie" video is certainly not the first time the topic has been dealt with in a video. The clip for Ashanti's 2003 song "Rain on Me" also depicted the seesaw battle between intense love and physical violence, as the singer moved from hugging and holding hands with her video boo to using makeup to cover the bruises and scars after their altercations. Similarly, Ludacris' collabo with Mary J. Blige on 2006's "Runaway Love" showed teenage runaways who fled their homes after abuse at the hands of their stepdads and mothers' boyfriends, who also laid hands on their mom. The topic has been ripe for other rappers, including Eve, who released "Love Is Blind" in 2000, which chronicled her anger at her friend's abusive boyfriend and her plot of revenge against him.

The topic has also been covered by country artists, including the Dixie Chicks, who took a kitschy, "Thelma & Louise" approach in their "Goodbye Earl" clip, in which the battered woman gets her revenge for landing in intensive care after a beating. In the video for 2002's "Family Portrait," Pink and her childhood doppelgänger relive the chaos and drama of "growing up in World War III" by trying to remember the good times, but not lingering on images of abuse. Even if they didn't address the issue directly in their videos, plenty of other acts have also written songs about dating and married violence, from Sublime ("Date Rape") and Nirvana ("Rape Me" and "Polly") to Christina Aguilera ("I'm Okay"), Tori Amos ("Me and a Gun"), Suzanne Vega ("My Name Is Luka") and Em's own "Kim." Nickelback sang about personal violence on their first major album, Silver Side Up, on the song "Never Again," which had harsh depictions of domestic abuse, and though the original video was never officially released — a live version was issued instead — it can still be found online. While Em's "Lie" has mostly been praised for its serious handling of the issue, another often controversial artist, shock rocker Marilyn Manson, was widely panned for his ultra-violent "Running to the Edge of the World" clip, in which he seemed to be glorifying violence against women by beating up on a bloodied female who resembled his then-ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood. How do you think "Love the Way You Lie" handled domestic violence? Let us know in the comments.

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Diddy-Dirty Money Stage New York Takeover On Coming Home Tour

23 Apr 2011 11:32:41 EDT

Ja Rule, Ashanti also surprise fans before Diddy pays homage to B.I.G. with Bad Boy alums Faith Evans, Black Rob and more at Hammerstein Ballroom.
By Rebecca Thomas

Diddy performs at the Diddy-Dirty Money Coming Home Tour in New York City on April 22, 2011
Photo: Getty Images

NEW YORK -- It was the homecoming leg on his Coming Home Tour, so it was only fitting that Harlem-born Diddy threw a Ciroc-soaked "white party" on Friday as Diddy-Dirty Money hit New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. The trio worked the dance hits from their Last Train to Paris, but this was a show in three acts, with the mogul/MC reaching back to the dawn of Bad Boy to pay an expansive tribute to "Brooklyn's Finest" MC, the Notorious B.I.G., and bringing concertgoers along on a visual/sonic journey that spanned his unstoppable career. Diddy-Dirty Money divas Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper preceded Diddy to the stage in looks that seemed to channel Grace Jones: Dawn in a thigh-baring cutout dress and Kalenna in a glittery romper, both sharing the creamy palette with Diddy, who was dressed in a sporty, all-white ensemble. The ladies kicked things off with "Yeah, Yeah You Would" (which features Jones), before an energetic Diddy emerged for the dance-floor banger "Ass on the Floor," with Swizz Beatz delivering the hook via a pre-taped clip that was mounted on enormous projectors -- an artfully executed stand-in used throughout the night for other LTP features like Rick Ross and Lil Wayne.

"Ain't no place like home!" Sean Combs told the excited crowd, touching on his Mt. Vernon, New York, upbringing and breaking down why no other city can match New York's swag. An emotional undercurrent coursed through the entire show, and the series of delays that plagued Last Train to Paris, 41-year-old Combs' risk-taking concept album, seemed to be a particularly poignant theme on Friday night. Mr. "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" danced with abandon, his son Justin briefly joining him onstage with some sharp moves of his own. But Justin was only the first of a string of cameos, many from artists who'd once batted on Bad Boy's chart-busting lineup. After performing "Loving You No More," "Yesterday" and a moody Sade medley from Dawn and K that seemed to slow things down too much for the club-like atmosphere they'd created, a B.I.G. video montage set the tone for the show's second act. Memorable images of the young Bedford Stuyvesant MC and budding mogul Puff Daddy flashed across the screen, following a linear "This Is Your Life"- style narrative. Dawn and Kalenna ceded the stage to Diddy entirely as he launched into Bad Boy Records' shiny-suit era smashes, from "All About the Benjamins" to "Mo Money, Mo Problems." The New York audience lost it for the familiar classics, but went 'ham for the familiar faces. Formerly incarcerated Black Rob, in requisite black hoodie, turned up for "Whoa"; newly raven-haired Faith Evans sang a silky version of her "Love Like This"; and Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s Lil' Cease made a cameo. "I was looking for inspiration before Last Train to Paris, and I was walking in Central Park one day and I heard this song," Diddy recalled, introducing A Tribe Called Quest MC and longtime Diddy pal Q-Tip. The duo treated fans to a spirited dance-off as they ticked off Tribe standards like "Check the Rhime" and Tip's "Vivrant Thing." But the presence of the late Christopher Wallace hovered over the proceedings. Diddy, now rocking a vintage Versace shirt, profusely thanked his fallen brother as more B.I.G. videos played on an overhead screen to cheers and shouts. The standing-room crowd, waving hands and phones in the air, was fired up for the nostalgic trip. Things drew to an end with the other two thirds of DDM taking their places onstage again for the triumphant, introspective "Coming Home," followed by closer "Hello, Good Morning." Opening act Lloyd had a few special guests of his own, bringing out his onetime Murder Inc. labelmates Ashanti and Ja Rule, who's several weeks away from a two-year jail sentence on gun charges. The gruff-voiced Ja showed little signs of rust on his Ashanti-featuring "Always on Time," the infectious chart-topping single that ruled the summer a decade ago. Lloyd's Young Money brethren and fellow opener Tyga hopped back onstage to drop his "BedRock" verse. And a go-go breakdown of "Lay Your Head" accompanied Wale's appearance with the crooner.

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