Ashanti

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas (born October 13, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She was first discovered as a teenager and signed to Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2002. That same year, she was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time", both of which were two of the biggest hit songs of 2002. She became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously with "Foolish" and "What's Luv?" 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 received 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 by the end of 2003. Its lead single, "Foolish" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and made her the second artist (after The Beatles) to have their first three chart entries peak within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. Ashanti wrote and provided background vocals for Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", which al... ()