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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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As Ashanti took a more proactive role in her project, she occasionally found herself bumping heads with I.G. In fact, the two briefly stopped talking while they were adding the finishing touches to Chapter 2's first single, "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)."
"That was one of the first songs I worked on for the second album," she remembers. "At first it was very hard for me to get back into the groove of writing. I kept saying to myself '[These new songs have] gotta be hotter than the first album, it's gotta be hotter than the first album.' I would listen to things I was saying and how I was saying it on the first album and would be like, 'I just gotta write it hotter.' I would write a couple of verses and just keep tweaking them and tweaking them."
Ashanti's perfectionism led to the brief falling out with Gotti. He was ready to master the song and she wanted to enhance it.
"So I'm saying, 'We're not finished,' " she says. "I'm like, 'Yo, what are you doing, I have to add more stuff to it.' And he's like, 'Nah man, I like it the way it is. Just leave it alone. You're always trying to overproduce.' So we were just going back and forth and it just turned into the longest night ever."
In the Hit Factory's parking lot, it's going to feel like the longest night ever as well to the losers of the Murder Inc. half-court basketball game. The sun is going down and Irv's brother and president of Murder Inc. Records, Chris Gotti, has taken off his throwback Boston Celtics 33 jersey but is still trying to play like Larry Bird as he and some of the crew hoop it up. The ball is bouncing off of Navigators and Benzes in the lot, but a few dents don't matter because bragging rights for the night are at stake.
Inside, the NBA championship is at stake as Ashanti's father, Kenkaide Douglas, and a few of his friends are eating take-out from Red Lobster and watching Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers take on the Detroit Pistons. Ashanti hides from the sports mania.
"There's a lot of variety on the album," Ashanti, now tucked away from the noise in another part of the Hit Factory, adds about her new LP. "Another one of my favorite records is called 'Ooh Ah.' I got 'Awww Baby' and 'Ooh Ah.' It's a very sensual record. It's not raunchy or anything, but it's just like that one person that you kinda just want to see that one night. You know how you get that craving for that one person? 'Oh, I wanna see him tonight. This is one of those nights I'm feeling him.'
"There's also a song called 'Carry On' that's very dramatic," she continues. "I'm talking about holes in the wall, glass on the floor, these types of arguments. It's very visual."
Since Murder Inc. released Ashanti's self-titled debut on April 2 of last year, we've become accustomed to seeing her everywhere. She's barely had time to breathe, let alone engage in the kinds of romantic activities she sings about. But there have been compensations. Besides selling 5 million albums worldwide, she's won almost every major award, including a Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album, released a book of her poems and thoughts, performed in front of millions of fans, appeared on an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and has been tapped to star in a remake of the classic Hollywood musical "Sparkle." There's also a DVD coming out later this year and possibly another album ("It's too early to talk about it," she says with her trademark playful grin). The person who started out as "the girl who sings on the hooks for Fat Joe and Ja Rule" has arguably surpassed her two peers in popularity and wields more industry clout.
"Sometimes it hits me," she admits about coming to grips with stardom, "When I'm doing a show, when I'm standing onstage in an arena, and I'm like, 'Let me hear you' and they sing with me. I'm like, 'Wow, I can't believe it. Last year I was driving around in my little Mazda 626 living in the basement of my parents' house, without security [guards]. Now I'm in front of 30,000 people.'
"I remember the first time I saw the ticket and it said 'Ashanti Headliner,' " she continues with a smile. "I was like, 'Oh. I'm doing it by myself? It's not me and Ja?' I think I still have those ticket stubs. Just to see your name, you're the big one in bold letters on the ticket. I remember when we were going around knocking on people's doors, lying about who we were to get in the building so we could get that little meeting with an A&R so we could get a deal."
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Photo: Murder Inc.
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