Biography

The actress, producer, and singer known as Ashanti was born Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas in 1980 in New York. Ashanti grew up in a talented family, inheriting her love of performance from her mother (a dancer) and her father (a singer.) Young Ashanti began singing in her local church choir and dancing at her local cultural arts center before she was a teenager, and her early performances include talents shows at Madison Square Garden and the China Club. Eventually, these opportunities led to small parts in films and a number of parts with Disney productions, but it was a number of years before Ashanti settled into performance as her life’s calling.

After finishing high school, Ashanti began to accept jobs in support of other artists, frequently singing backup vocals or otherwise providing tracks for such notables as Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule, until in 1983 she released her debut single, “Foolish.” The song rose to the top of the charts and paved the way for Ashanti’s debut album, released in 2002. Over the next six years, Ashanti released the albums Chapter II (2003), Concrete Rose (2004), and The Declaration (2008), giving audiences the hit singles “Happy,” “Baby,” “Rock wit U (Awww Baby),” “Rain on Me,” “Only U,” and “The Way That I Love You.”

In addition to her achievements in music, Ashanti also appeared in the films Coach Carter (2005), John Tucker Must Die (2006), Resident Evil Extinction (2007), Mutant World (2014), Stuck (2015), and on a number of television shows, including Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Army Wives, and Law & Order: SVU. An artist with a philanthropic heart, Ashanti has also supported a number of notable charities, including the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and the American Association for Cancer Research.

Ashanti continues to perform, act and record. Her latest album, Braveheart, arrived in 2014. She most recently appeared in the film Mothers and Daughters, which released in 2016.