It looks as if Ashanti may be all grown up. The princess of hip-hop and R&B shed the dead weight around her for the recording of her newest album The Declaration, including the two Murder Inc. honchos Ja Rule and Irv Gotti that first put her on the map. Those two are still embroiled in legal battles and have fallen on hard times, but Ashanti has risen from the ashes of destitution and scandal for the release of Declaration, the first record that Ashanti has creatively controlled since the start of her career.
If you're wondering if Ashanti can pull it off on her own, have no fear. The Declaration is an adult R&B record, and although she still includes some of the typical party jams that initially set off her career, she takes chances by experimenting with new sounds and subject matter. Working with producers outside of the Murder Inc. realm, Ashanti gets the beat treatment from big names like LT Hutton (he manned the boards four of the record's blistering tracks), Darkchild, Channel 7 and Babyface. But instead of getting everyone she knows to drop a verse on the album, she keeps the spotlight on herself for most of the 13 tracks, only enlisting help from Robin Thicke, Akon and Nelly on two of them.
That's probably because Ashanti wants to shine, and she does nothing but gleam on The Declaration. The album is divided between slow songs and upbeat electro-R&B jams, allowing her to showcase her vocal talents on the former and get the party started on the latter.
