After Ashanti had her big hit in 2001 with a song entitled "How We Roll" she caught the attention of a producer at 'Murder Inc. Records' named Irv Gotti.
Before she signed with the company it was a strictly rap label and the addition of Ashanti enabled it to widen its appeal by adding an R&B component and its marketing team therefore promoted her hard.
She next featured on the Ja Rule hit, "Always On Time," and received major airwave and video exposure after which she had another big hit entitled "What's Luv?".
Her debut album, "Ashanti" was released on April 9, 2002 and it won the 'Best Contemporary R&B Album Grammy' and her single "Foolish" sold over half a million copies in its first week and went to number one and she has been nominated five times over the years.
Her first acting jobs were as a child extra in the Spike Lee directed movies 'Malcolm X' starring Denzel Washington & 'Who's Da Man'.
In 2004, she appeared in the Bollywood film 'Bride and Prejudice' in which she sings "My Lips are Waiting" and "Touch My Body' and then
in January 2005, she appeared in her first U.S. feature film, 'Coach Carter', and the movie opened at #1 at the U.S. box office and eventually grossed $70 million in the U.S. alone.
|