Ashanti is the debut studio album by American singer Ashanti. Released on April 2, 2002, by Murder Inc. Records and Def Jam Recordings, the album was recorded in New York City and Los Angeles between June 2001 and February 2002, during the period of time where Ashanti was writing for other artists. Its music has the sound of R&B, hip hop, and hip hop soul. The album features guest vocals from Gotti, Ja Rule, and the late The Notorious B.I.G.. Contributions to the album's production came from a wide range of producers, including Irv Gotti, 7 Aurelius, Chink Santana, Jared Thomas and Reggie Wright.
Ashanti debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with first-week sales of 503,000 units, the biggest first-week sales for a debut female artist up to then. The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of three million copies on December 17, 2002. It earned Ashanti three Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best Contemporary R&B Album, winning in the latter category. Billboard magazine ranked Ashanti at number 100 on its Top 200 Albums of the Decade. The album has sold six million copies worldwide.
The album was promoted by four singles. "Foolish" was released as the lead single from the project and peaked atop the record charts of 15 nations, including the US Billboard Hot 100. Two subsequent singles additionally became top ten charting hits: "Happy", "Baby". She also performed on several television shows and award ceremonies. Furthermore, Ashanti later opened for the North American leg for Mariah Carey's worldwide concert tour Charmbracelet World Tour.
Single[]
1. Foolish - Released 21 January 2002 2. Happy - Released 17 May 2002 3. Baby - Released 20 August 2002
Tracklisting[]
- Intro
- Foolish
- Happy
- Leaving (Always on Time Part II)
- Narrative Call (Skit)
- Call
- Scared
- Rescue
- Baby
- VooDoo
- Movies
- Fight (Over Skit)
- Over
- Unfoolish
- Shi Shi (Skit)
- Dreams
- Thank You