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— by Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Bridget Bland
Take the ruggedness of hip-hop and mix it with smooth R&B flava and you have the music of Ashanti. So says the singer about why she named her third LP Concrete Rose, a hybrid of something hard and something beautiful and delicate.
And like a rose, Ashanti's career is blossoming. She has a supporting role as a pregnant teen in "Coach Carter," which hits theaters on January 14, and next spring she takes the lead in a made-for-TV version of "The Wizard of Oz," in which her co-stars will be none other than the Muppets.
Musically, Ashanti continues to solidify her reputation as one of R&B's main go-to girls. For Concrete Rose, she reached back to producer 7 Aurelius, who produced most of her self-titled debut LP as well as monster Ja Rule smashes like "Always on Time" and "Down 4 U," which she guest-starred on.
Shani also stepped it up on her lyrics, coming a little sexier on records like "Love Again." Meanwhile, the 24-year-old deals with real-life backstabbing on the song "Freedom." Luckily, her ride-or-die homies Irv Gotti, Ja Rule, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy have her back.
Ashanti recently sat down with MTV News to talk about her fake circle of friends, why it took her so long to write the lyrics for her hit "Only U," and how her label, the Inc., is becoming a legend.
MTV: The video for "Only U" is a spectacle. Who came up with the look?
Ashanti: The concept for the video, I have to give it to Hype [Williams, the director]. When he heard the record, we were shooting "Wonderful" in Mexico, and Irv played it for him. He was like, "Oh my God!" He came up with the whole [fashion show idea].
Originally we wanted to do, like, 40 looks, but that would have taken two weeks and we had two days. We shot it in Mexico. The dancing routine was kind of with myself, my choreographer and my mom. We wanted to make something monumental. It's a brand new look for me. A lot of creative thought went into it.
MTV: The song is such a departure from a record like "Foolish." Why go so left with your first single?
Ashanti: We chose "Only U" as the first single because it was something totally different for me. We had recorded maybe four or five songs before we heard "Only U." We went to the studio and reunited with 7.
He played the record for us. Me and Irv looked at each other like, "Oh my God." At first it was a little bit intimidating. It's hot, but it sounds very rock and roll — but the beat is just banging. It took me three days to write to that record because I didn't know what to do with it. Like, "How do I make it mine?
How do I make this an Ashanti record?" So I put my little lyrics together and my signature catchy melody.
It already had the rock and roll element. It already had the hip-hop element. The vocals and the lyrics made it R&B. So it kind of captures all three.
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"I had to make my circle a little bit smaller. I never thought it would be those [people]." — Ashanti
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MTV: Did you take that experimental approach throughout the album?
Ashanti: Oh my gosh, this album is so different, and it's such a level up, and I'm totally infatuated with it. I love, love, love, love every record, and the response has been incredible.
MTV: There's a song on there called "Freedom,"
where you talk about cutting off some of the people who were close to you.
Ashanti: I kinda found out the hard way that these people weren't who I thought they were — they had ulterior motives. I had to make my circle a little bit smaller. And it was hard because I never thought it would be those [people].
MTV: What else are you feeling on the album?
Ashanti: There's another record called "Love Again." It's a sexy record. It talks about how one person can come into your life and take you into a totally different world that you never knew existed.
Maybe you wouldn't see yourself doing or saying certain things. There's a record with me and Lloyd called "Take Me Tonight." It's an extremely radio-friendly, signature Murder Inc. record.
MTV: Have you picked the second single yet?
Ashanti: See, it's hard, and it's great when it's a hard position to pick the second single. I think we're leaning towards "Focus." It's up-tempo.
It's in the club 100 percent. It's basically about being focused. If you're in a relationship and you're finished with the dude, you kinda get focused. Like, "I'm not worrying about the dude." Subliminally in the bridge I'm [saying], "Don't worry what other people say, keep on the grind, keep it out of your mind."
It's about not focusing on who's trying to criticize you.
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"The Inc. definitely has gone through a lot — Ja, Gotti ... even outside of music." — Ashanti
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MTV: Obviously you've heard the criticism about your label, the last year especially. But "Only U" is just one in a string of hits the Inc. has put out the last several months. Not bad for a label that was supposed to be dead. What are your thoughts about your label's comeback?
Ashanti: I think it's way more legendary when you're incredibly hot, and then you take a fall and come back to being on top. You get more respect and it's more of a historic thing when stuff like that happens. It keeps you motivated and keeps your creative juices flowing. The Inc. definitely has gone through a lot — Ja, Gotti, all of the other stuff, even outside of music. And that has driven us to get back on our grind and smash it. It actually has brought us all closer together.
MTV: We've heard Gotti's and Ja's theories, but why do you think you guys experienced all the hate in the first place?
Ashanti: It's all about when you're hot and there's nowhere else to go. It's almost natural. You have to come down and you have to build yourself back up again. You have to go through that process.
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Photo: The Inc.
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