Ashanti.Photo: Jeremi Byrd
More than 20 years into her career,Ashantiis shaping an impressive legacy, reaping the benefits of her hard work and preparing to slow down in order to start a family — eventually.
“I’m hustling and doing what I need to do now, so I can chill a little bit,” the R&B icon, 42, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, opening up about successes, hardships and how she’s remained grounded throughout decades of fame.
During their first trip to Los Angeles, before Ashanti signed to music executive Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc. records in 2002, while the young singer-songwriter was holed up in a recording session, Tina went to a souvenir shop and bought a $5 replica of aHollywood Walk of Famestar. After adorning it with gold stickers spelling out her daughter’s name, she went to the studio and gave it to her. “I said, ‘You’re going to get a real star one day,'” recalls Tina, 68. “She was like, ‘Yeah, right, Mom.'”
Ashanti.Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Never doubt a mother’s intuition. Ashanti received a star on the Walk of Fame in April, and Tina brought the replica — which she’s kept in mint condition — to the presentation ceremony. “I genuinely didn’t ever think that would happen,” says the Grammy winner, who’s faced several trials and tribulations throughout the entertainment industry on the road to becoming an icon. “It was emotional, knowing the ups and downs and sacrifices.”
Her connection to Gotti then soured, which he’s since claimed was partially the result of a romantic relationship between them abruptly ending — allegations she denies, stating there was no relationship. “I had love for Irv,” she explains. “We had our situation, but I think he blew it out of proportion.”
She then returned to music on her own terms, launched an independent label called Written Entertainment and released her sixth album, 2014’sBraveheart, which debuted in theBillboard200’s top 10. “It’s fulfilling to be able to say I’m independentandsuccessful,” says Ashanti. “I’m very grateful.”
In recent years, the artist has consistently released music (with a brand-new album in the works), acted onscreen in projects including VH1’sA New Diva’s Christmas Caroland performed her catalog to global audiences of thousands. “I just played shows in Australia, New Zealand and Dubai,” she says. “I held out the mic, and the crowd screamed ‘Foolish’ at the top of their lungs. That’s an incredible feeling after 20 years.”
Ashanti.Evan Agostini/Getty
Additionally, she’s in the midst of crafting are-recorded version of her debut album— which she, rather than Murder Inc., will fully own upon its release. “When you think about how the labels have been making hundreds of millions of dollars for 20 years, it’s like, ‘OK, thanks. That’s enough. My turn,'” she says. “Hopefully, this inspires artists to know, at the end of the day, it’s so important to own your creativity.”
Envisioning her ideal future as a mother, she hopes to follow the model that’s guided her throughout her own life. “If I have an ounce of my mom’s skills, I’m superior, honestly, because my mom is the s—,” she says. “My dad is cool too, and my sister. But my mom’s a different breed. They don’t make human beings like my mom.”
source: people.com
