MUSIC
From Issue #20
Ashanti
Good things come in small packages
by Alicia Cox
Ashanti is tiny. She kicks off her killer pair of heels,
and when we stand together – I’m wearing heels and
I’m 5’8” – she seems like someone’s exceptionally
pretty kid sister. But don’t let her sweet face and small
stature fool you. Ashanti is a superstar, selling over
6 million albums, and her third studio album, Concrete
Rose, was released last December.
She’s a Grammy
Award-winning, chart-topping, R&B princess, and with
guest roles in Bride and Prejudice and Coach Carter, as
well as the lead as Dorothy in the television movie
The Muppets’ Wonderful World of Oz, Ashanti can add
actress to her bag of tricks. But things haven’t always
been easy for this 23-year-old former track star.
“Along
with the good comes the bad,” she says. “Some people
will love you and what you do, and others won’t.”
The most important thing for Ashanti is to, “do your
best and really know that you’ve done your best. You
can’t let haters get to you.”
And when obstacles get in
her way, she’s got them covered: “You have to dig
inside and say, ‘Look, I have to do this.’ You have to
develop a thick skin. Be persistent. Just keep working
harder and harder, and don’t give up.”
Photo courtesy of Universal Music.
