Thursday, May 15, 2008
With the release of these "new" promo pics yesterday and a definative release date for Ashanti's beleagured album The Declaration, many are speculating: Is the singer finished?It's been almost four years since Ashanti's last album, The Rose, flopped and sicne then,not only has her label backing changed, so has our listening tastes. This is probably most evident in Ashanti's re-emergence in preperation for her new project.
Absent for the first time in Ashanti's career is her mentor, and former flame, the embattled Irv Gotti. In April 2007, Gotti appeared in an interview with FunkMaster Flex and addressed the fact that Ashanti had ventured out and acquired producers and collaborations primarily outside The Inc. for the first time by saying, "she's having her little Janet Jackson "Control" moment. Every artist has their moment when they feel they need to take over their own music`and this is hers." Ashanti says her new album represents her sense of freedom at this stage in her career. "I'm steering my own ship and taking the lead on everything. You can definitely hear the growth; I'm working with producers I've never worked with before." Those producers include Diane Warren, Carven and Ivan, Rodney Jerkins, Danjahandz, Bryan-Michael Cox, Babyface, Pharrell Williams, Dr. Dre, Jermaine Dupri, Mario Winans, Shy Carter, Eric Hudson, Jim Beanz, 7 Aurelius, Chris & Drop, Ryan Tedder, Neff-U and L. T. Hutton. But the relative failure of Declarations first single, "The Way That I Love You" an ode to another former flame, Nelly, signals that perhaps this new ship is already sinking.
With The Inc. virtually non-existant and still in serious legal trouble, Ashanti's decision to distance herself from her former her was a good one. But since then, it seems that she has no idea what direction to head next. Take these new pics. What's the diffrence between them and the pictures my sister and her friends took last weekend at the mall?
Everything from the awful two-toned hair, to the Forever 21 dresses, to the lack of a theme, all highlight the obvious; Ashanti is a woman lost. These are pictures I'd expect from a brand new artist, out (in 1999) on her first go-round. Not a multi-platinum artist. And for better or worst, the award winning songwriter is just that. But reputation, especially one marred by middle of the road reviews, don't mean anything now.
I mean let's face it, the market is flooded with pretty girls with decent voices and with such trully talented singer/songwriters like Beyonce and Alicia Keys, the notoriously regular chicks ahve got to run twice as fast just to keep up. And from the tracks that have leaked so far, Ashanti isn't keeping a good pace.
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