Ashanti (album)

Ashanti
Studio album by Ashanti
Released April 2, 2002 (2002-04-02)
(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 Wright
Ashanti chronology
Ashanti
(2002)		 Chapter II
(2003)
Singles from Ashanti
  1. "Foolish"
    Released: January 29, 2002
  2. "Happy"
    Released: May 21, 2002
  3. "Baby"
    Released: November 17, 2002
  4. "Dreams"
    Released: January 14, 2003
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. Records and Def Jam Records on April 2, 2002 in North America and April 8, 2002 in United Kingdom. The album saw the singer active in songwriting and producing, 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

Release history

Country Date
United States April 2, 2002
United Kingdom April 8, 2002

Charts and certification

Chart (2002) Provider Peak
position		 Certification 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

References

  1. ^ "Allmusic review". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r583491.  Retrieved August 2011
  2. ^ "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. 
  3. ^ "Music: Ashanti (CD) by Ashanti (Artist)". Tower.com. 2002-04-02. http://www.tower.com/ashanti-cd/wapi/105806257. Retrieved 2011-08-10. 
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ Ashanti, slantmagazine.com. Retrieved August 2011
  6. ^ "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. 
  7. ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/ask-billboard-ashanti-nelly-chate-moore-1003885994.story#/news/ask-billboard-ashanti-nelly-chate-moore-1003885994.story
  8. ^ Norment, Lynn (2005). "Ashanti: answers critics & doubters". Ebony. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_5_60/ai_n12934945/. 
  9. ^ [2]
  10. ^ [3]
  11. ^ [4]
Preceded by
A New Day Has Come by Celine Dion		 U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
April 20, 2002 – May 4, 2002		 Succeeded by
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems by Kenny Chesney
Ashanti
Studio albums
Other albums
Singles
Featured singles
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