SHE’S a record-breaking singer with number one albums, a Grammy and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And Ashanti’s era-defining R&B hits have played such a big part in her fans’ lives they’ve had tattoos of her face on their bodies and conceived their children listening to her music.
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Speaking exclusively to The Sun ahead of her upcoming UK arena tour, she says: “I see people tattooing my face on them and my name and talking about records that have touched them the most, and be like ‘oh my god, my daughter was made to this record’ and things like that. It‘s a beautiful thing, the love and support from the fans is like no other.”
Inked tributes don't always go to plan, but even dodgy artwork gets Ashanti’s seal of approval as the sentiment is all that matters to her.
“Even if there is a bad tattoo you can’t even get mad,” she laughs. “The fact somebody actually went and permanently tattooed themselves with your name or your face, you have to be grateful for that. That’s a different level of admiration and love. Even if it’s not a great job, you have to be like ‘wow, that’s incredible’.”
The Foolish singer, 41, became a bona fide superstar exactly 20 years ago when her self-titled debut shifted a record 503,000 copies in its first week of release, taking it straight to the top of the US charts.
Famously signed to notorious record label Murder Inc, which was investigated by the FBI for alleged money laundering in the early noughties, Ashanti says she was like a little sister to “gangster” lablemates Ja Rule, Tah Murdah and Black Child.
Two decades later her hits are still proving popular, with Brit rapper Aitch sampling her track Rock Wit U (Awww baby) for his number two smash Baby.
After consulting with her team, she was happy to give the Manchester star her blessing.
“It was super cool,” she says. “It sounds so Hollywood, but his people hit my people, that's kinda how it happened. They sent me the record and I was like 'oh, wow'. My web designer is from the UK, so I hit him up and everyone had really good things to say about him. I was like 'wow, he's pretty dope. I like him'. So I cleared it for him. It's amazing. He's definitely doing his thing.
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“I get a lot of requests. Sometimes I don't clear it [laughs], but the majority of the times I do. I cleared for Moneybagg Yo and DaBaby and now for Aitch. It's surreal to know I'm out here performing these records I wrote 20 years ago and some of the hottest rappers are sampling my music now. It's definitely a great feeling.”
Despite her eponymous record's instant success, “naive” Ashanti managed to keep her feet on the ground, unlike other artists of the era such as Macy Gray, who recently said she became an ‘a**hole’ when she achieved fame and fortune.
She says: “I really didn’t understand it back then. I’ll never forget, I would ask questions like ‘so we sold 503,000, is that a good number? I really don’t know’. I didn’t have anything to compare it to because I was such a new artist.
“Breaking records, making history and having number one records on Billboard and things like that, I was genuinely like ‘is this where we’re supposed to be?’
“I’m humble as a human being regardless of fame. I’ve never had the feeling of becoming bigheaded or anything like that. Now looking back it’s like ‘woah, girl, we were making history’ [laughs].
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That humility is reflected in her tour rider requests, which lack the decadent diva demands often associated with pop stars.
She says there’ll be “nothing too crazy” on it when she jets over for shows in London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham next month.
“I love the warm weather so I have to have the heat on 80 [degrees],” she says. “I've got some organic juices on there, some water, some fruit. I don't have doves and bottles of champagne [laughs]. I'm pretty cool, I'm pretty laid back, as long as I have tea and honey and stuff.”
While she’s relaxed about the contents of her dressing room, there’s one pre-show ritual that she enforces amongst her entire team.
“We have to pray every single show,” she says. “I don't care if I'm running late. I don't care whatever is happening, I stop everyone and we pray. The entire band, the dancers, my creative director, my DJ, my security, everybody. Whoever's in the room you get put in the prayer circle [laughs].”
Even though her feet are firmly on the ground, she knows her worth.
The business savvy star is following in Taylor Swift’s footsteps and re-recording her first album, which will be released as NFTs through the EQ Exchange, which she co-owns.
The deal saw Ashanti make history by becoming the first black female artist to co-own a Web3 company.
She revealed her original recording contract with Murder Inc saw her earn ’just cents’ from each CD sale, and she’s decided it’s time to reclaim her intellectual property and the cash that comes with it, declaring: “Why give away something that’s yours and allow other people to make money?”
The idea to re-release music has been bubbling for a long time, pre-dating Taylor’s re-releases, but Ashanti is full of praise for the Trouble singer’s determination to take back control.
“I’m so happy that Taylor as a young woman in the industry went in and did her thing and is super successful. I applaud her for sure. It’s amazing she was able to accomplish that.
“For me, I signed that deal 20 years ago. Things definitely change and to be living in this current world you have to keep up with what’s going on. I think it’s really important to own your intellectual property and own your creativity. It’s about ownership. I went independent as an artist a long time ago with my album Braveheart, so it’s been brewing, and I think the message needs to be out there for artists to get involved and understand what you’re signing and how important it is for you to own what you create.
“I hope this inspires other women and other people to understand it and understand the value of ownership. You want to be able to feed your family. You want to be able to live off your creativity.”
Earlier this month Ashanti’s six studio albums and film credits including Coach Carter, John Tucker Must Die and Resident Evil saw her receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The prestigious honour, which she enjoyed with her mum and longtime friend and collaborator Ja Rule by her side, still hasn’t sunk in.
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She says: “Even as I’m sat here talking to you it’s like ‘I can’t believe it’. It’s so crazy. I’m very happy. I’m very grateful. There have been so many ups and downs and so many failed record deals and so many good moments, bad moments, peaks and valleys.
“It’s kind of like a testament - you kept going, you kept believing and you kept dreaming and boom, now you’re cemented. It’s a beautiful thing.”
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