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Page 1
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Ashanti says "Whateva!" to Irv Gotti when he claims he wrote her whole album ...
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Page 2
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Irv Gotti has a falling out with his Murder Inc. princess ...
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Page 3
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Ashanti gets dissed by the G-Unit, but her skin is like wood ...
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Photo Gallery
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Ashanti In The Studio
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On The Set Of Ashanti's "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)" Video Shoot
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 Bands Main
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— by Shaheem Reid
Miami is the new New York. Two weeks before every big-name celeb in urban music invades South Beach for round-the-clock festivities over Memorial Day weekend, South Florida is already poppin'.
Mariah Carey steps out of her limo in a bikini and sandals to walk up to her hotel. A few blocks down, a tattooed Mike Tyson, who's down here training for his next fight, eats at a Cuban restaurant, cracking jokes with a crew of 20. Later on that night, 50 Cent, who's in town for a concert and a photo shoot with famed photographer Jonathan Manion, throws back a few cold ones with the G-Unit at one of the many happening nightspots.
But the beauty of Miami is that you don't have to walk up and down South Beach to catch your favorite star. All you have to do is home in on the Hit Factory Criteria studios. In the past few months, Foxy Brown, Lenny Kravitz, P. Diddy and Mary J. Blige have all cut tracks there. Today, the names on the reserved parking spots read like a walk of fame:
Ms. Carey, Monica, D. Chappelle (as in Dave) and Mr. Santana (as in Carlos) all have spaces waiting for them, as do the Big Tymers and their Cash Money entourage. A new Ferrari and motorbike are being washed on a chunk of ground with a sign that reads "Missy E." beside it. And a few feet from Missy's spot are two signs that say "Mr. Gotti" and "Ashanti."
Inside the Hit Factory, Mr. Gotti is playing selections from Chapter 2, the sophomore LP from Murder Inc.'s princess.
" ... And I wrote the whole album," Irv Gotti, barely able to keep a straight face, tells a room full of people that includes Ashanti's mother, Tina Douglas, and younger sister Shishi.
Although Ashanti's smile sends a clear message of "Oh no you didn't!" a huge "Ha!" is all she can muster before following up with "Whateva!"
The Incsters can afford to laugh now. They feel that when Chapter 2 hits stores on July 1, their four months of work on the album will pay off.
"Saw you again for the first time/ It's been a long time," Ashanti's vocals slowly ooze out the speakers accompanied by soulful guitar, conjuring up Mary J. Blige singing "Sweet Thing."
"It brought up all these feelings I never thought I had inside ... Wanna get back with yooouuu," Gotti jumps in and sings in a high pitch, inspiring Ashanti to also sing along with her song.
"That is actually a lot of me and my dudes' favorite song," the Murder Inc. boss explains of the track that just played, "Break Up to Make Up." "It has such a summery vibe. When people buy the album on July 1 and they going to the beach July 4, we want this to be the album [you play on the way], and the album that's gonna ride you through the whole summer, probably the whole year.
"A funny thing is that I've been playing the record for everybody and they're like, 'She sounds more mature,' " Gotti continues. "I always laugh because I knew that her voice was there, but with the first album it was [not just] her first album, it was Gotti's first [R&B] album too. I kind of stifled her. I didn't let her sing, I didn't let her do all these ad libs. I was hearing these ad libs in her live shows and I'd be like, 'Yo, that sh-- was hot, why didn't you do that on the [album]?' She was like, 'You didn't let me, stupid!' "
"Exactly," Ashanti says with a smile.
"Now with both her and me growing up and learning how to do this R&B thing even better, when you hear these records and this album, it's me letting her do her thing. She really did her thing.
"I'm going to openly say that Ashanti's writing skills ... I would put her up against anybody," Gotti brags. "She's incredible when it comes to the pen and pad. I've been blessed with two monster songwriters — Ja and Ashanti. It's unreal how it goes down and how fast it goes down."
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Photo: Murder Inc.
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