This year has been one hell of a ride for Ashanti. So many revelations about her life and career have been shared without her voice. But, in her latest interview with the Breakfast Club, the former Murder Inc. singer describes a creepy encounter with a music producer she was working with.
During the interview, at the 15-minute mark, she said, “One producer, like, we did two records together, he was like, ‘Okay I’m not gonna charge you, you’re my homie. And then when it came time to put it on the album, he was like, ‘Well, let’s take a shower together.’”
She continued, “And I thought he was joking! And then he’s like, ‘Nah I’m dead serious. You know, let’s go out and let’s take a shower together and I’ll give you the records. If not I need 40 racks per record.’”
The “Foolish” singer recalled working with the producer for a couple of weeks before that incident occurred. Once she figured out this mystery producer was serious, she said she had to make some phone calls to make sure “stuff was handled.” Ashanti never named the producer or when it happened.
While this story is absolutely disgusting, it’s no shock that a man essentially tried to use a woman’s body as a bargaining chip against them, especially in the music industry.
Throughout the year, Ashanti’s name has been dragged through the mud, most notably by her former Murder Inc. Records boss, Irv Gotti. During a long and weird appearance on N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s Drink Champs podcast, Gotti went in depth about his relationship with Ashanti and how he was “in love with her.
During the airing of The Murder Inc. Story on BET, Gotti explained how his romantic relationship with the R&B singer got started. He weirdly and specifically detailed the time when he took Ashanti home after a late-night studio session and the two shared their first kiss together.
After Gotti finally decided to shut up about Ashanti, she did an interview with Angie Martinez where she revealed many of the degrading things Gotti would say about her. Some of the things she described he would say to her included, “You ain’t sh*t, f**k you...you not even f**king loyal. You know I made you, I made the world wanna f**k you’, you know what I’m saying? He would say ‘N***as wanna f**k you because I made you look like that. I made you f**kable...’ in those exact words.”
Hopefully, in 2023 people can keep Ashanti’s name out of their mouths so she can focus on her music and career.