|
 |
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-- by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Curtis Waller and Peter Wilkinson
Ashanti S. Douglas remembers the first time she gave her audience more than they paid for.
"I was performing at [New York's] China Club a long time ago," Ashanti begins. "This lady made me this outfit. It felt like it was gonna fit. I'm onstage, I'm brand new, there's a whole lot of people [in the audience]. I'm getting ready to perform, and my straps start coming down. I have the mic in my hand and I'm like, 'Oh, man.' So I keep singing, and I'm holding my straps up and everything is unraveling."
Picking up jewels from her performer parents — her mother is a dance instructor, her father used to sing — young Ashanti kept the show going despite having plenty to blush about.
"It was kind of hard, and my dad was in the audience ready to fight," she continues. "That was pretty embarrassing. I was always taught, 'Don't ever leave the stage,' so I was up there holding my joints together and singing. The host was a comedian, and he was like, 'Who wants to see Ashanti again? Let's see her again!' "
A few years later, Ashanti is still trying to hold it together. It's April Fool's Day, 24 hours before her self-titled debut hits stores, and she's not in the joking mood. She has those butterflies in her stomach that come with anxiety and nervousness. She'll eventually shake it off, realizing that this is what she's worked hard for. But what about finding herself in a pack of rising female R&B singers such as Tweet, Truth Hurts, Fundisha and Sharissa?
"I see two sides to it," the Glen Cove, New York, native says. "I see healthy competition, and I see media trying to play us all together, which is not cool. But I'm a humble person and I feel there's room for everyone. I create my own lane and [other] artists have their own lane. I don't think there should be beef."
"I've been blessed too much to consider any competition," says Tweet, who's standing at the top of the heap so far with Ashanti. Tweet also dropped her first album the same day. "It's not a competition to me. There's enough room for everybody to get their shine on. I'm gonna buy Ashanti's album, because we need to support one another instead of bringing each other down."
|
|
|
|
Photo: Murder Inc.
|
|
|
|
