Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, actor and author Ashanti burst onto the music scene with her smash hit, self-titled debut album, Ashanti. It landed the #1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B album charts, selling a whopping 504,593 units in its first week.
This set a SoundScan record as the most albums sold by any debut female artist in the chart’s history and granted her a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Over the span of her 20 year career, Ashanti has released six studio albums and received a number of illustrious rewards including eight Billboard Awards, a Grammy, two American Music Awards, two Soul Train Awards and six ASCAP Awards. She has reigned at the top as one of Billboard’s “Top Females of the Decade from 2000-2010” and continues to break Billboard records having a Hot 100 entry every decade in the 2000’s, 2010’s and 2020’s.
In 2005, Ashanti made her telefilm debut starring as Dorothy in The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, opposite Miss Piggy and Kermit. She also starred in Disney’s animated series The Proud Family and continued her journey in television landing roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Army Wives, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, as well as portraying Dionne Warwick on NBC’s AmericanDreams.
In her feature film debut she co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the #1 box office hit Coach Carter. Ashanti’s additional film credits include Resident Evil Extinction, John Tucker Must Die and Bollywood film Bride & Prejudice. Ashanti executive produced and starred in the musical drama
and feature film STUCK, released April 2019. She donned her executive producer hat once again for the feature film Mothers and Daughters, starring Sharon Stone, Susan Sarandon and Mira Sorvino. In partnership with Build-A-Bear Entertainment and Sony Pictures, Ashanti leads the cast of the
family friendly Honey Girls and will soon begin filming The Plus One in March 2022.
The Ashanti brand has continued to flourish with several major partnerships including her own fragrance, “Precious Jewel” with AMC Beauty. Endorsements with Candies Apparel and the groundbreaking Herbal Essence, where she is the first African American to land a national campaign inspired her to launch a clothing line in collaboration with Miss Circle and partner with
Pretty Little Thing to create her own swimsuit line “Ashanti.”
As an author, she has written her first book of poetry through Hyperion titled Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love and will release a book with Harper Collins in 2022.
As a philanthropist, Ashanti is the Ambassador for the Jumpstart Reading Program and became the “Youth of the Year” Ambassador for the Boys and Girls Club of America in 2009 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. She became a member of their “BE GREAT” Campaign with Denzel Washington and was a part of the “Let’s Move” health campaign with Michelle Obama.
To celebrate her contributions to music and recording, Ashanti will receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Spring 2022.
