Ashanti

Ashanti

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas (born October 13, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress. She was first discovered as a teenager and later signed to Murder Inc. in 2002. That year, she was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time", both of which became two of the biggest hit songs of 2002; Ashanti became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously when "Foolish" and "What's Luv?" were at numbers one and two, respectively. In 2002, Ashanti released her eponymous debut album, which sold over 505,000 copies throughout the U. S. in its first week of release. The album earned her many awards, including eight Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, and a Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The album has since been certified triple platinum in the United States and sold six million copies worldwide. The lead single for the album, "Foolish", was a critical and commercial success; it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. With "Foolish", she became the second artist (after The Beatles) to have their first three chart entries in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. Ashanti wrote and sang for Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", which also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2003, Ashanti released her second album, Chapter II, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 326,000 copies in the U. S. The album went platinum, selling over 1.5 million copies in U. S. since its release. The album's singles, "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)" and "Rain On Me", were both commercial successes, peaking at number two and number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, respectively. Chapter II was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)" and "Rain on Me" were each nominated in the categories of Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. In November 2003, Ashanti released a Christmas album titled Ashanti's Christmas, which was a modest commercial success.

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