| Ashanthi | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Genres | Sri Lankan Music, R&B, Hip hop |
| Years active | 2003-Present |
| Labels | Sony Music, Universal Music,M Entertainment |
| Associated acts | Bathiya and Santhush, Randhir Witana |
| Website | [1] |
Ashanthi de Alwis is a female Sri Lankan music artist. She is the only Sri Lankan female R&B / hip-hop artist to be signed to an international record label, Universal Records in 2003 and Sony Entertainment in 2006.[1][2][3] She began as a singer with Bathiya and Santhush, and continued that role after achieving solo success.
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Ashanthi's first major label album was as half of the duo Ashanthi'n'Ranidu, with the album Oba Magemai released in 2003.[4] Her debut solo album Sandawathuren was released in 2006.[5][6] This was the first R&B hip hop, solo album to be released by a Sri Lankan woman.[1] Her general style of music is ethnic R&B and hip-hop coupled with pop & soul ballads of mass market appeal. Sandawathuren was sung in the Sinhala language, with the exception of two English songs.[6]
Ashanthi has toured internationally in countries throughout Europe, North America, Australasia and Asia.[1][2][7] In 2006 Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka's flagship telecommunications company signed up Ashanthi to be a brand ambassador for their pre-paid brand KIT.[8]
At the 2008 Derana Music Video Awards, Ashanthi won the award for 'Best Hip Hop Video' for Alawanthiyak [9]