Home > Baltimore Music > CD Review > Ashanti, 'The Declaration'

Backstory: New York-born R&B singer Ashanti Douglas first hit the pop charts six years ago as the hook-provider to rappers Fat Joe and Murder Inc. label-mate Ja Rule. She had a smash of her own with her first single “Foolish,” a response record to Notorious B.I.G.’s hit “One More Chance.” Her three solo albums have all certified platinum, though her sales have declined since her 2002 debut. A federal money-laundering trial of Murder Inc. boss Irv Gotti in 2004 was a clear hindrance to her reputation and the success of her last album, “Concrete Rose.” Her fourth album “The Declaration” is her first in four years, as well as her first away from Murder Inc.’s sample-heavy choices.

Why you should care: Ja Rule is nowhere in sight, and she is no longer pretending to be the gangstress that she’s clearly not. At the same time, her voice has grown tremendously in strength from the pretty but almost adolescent-sounding tone of her first albums.

Verdict: Save for the sassy “Good Good,” she’s largely traded in her urban candy pop sound for something a bit meatier, though still tasty and fairly easily digestible. “In These Streets” is a particularly believable highlight; it’s much more raw and real than a typical R&B ballad as she (literally) laughs about how the streets have nothing to offer her.

X-Factor: On the album, the single “The Way That I Love You” comes off as a compelling ode to being jilted, but it’s given a far more surprising and dramatic twist in the video, which finds Ashanti savagely murdering the boyfriend who did her wrong. Her rumored partner, rapper Nelly (who guests here with Akon on the bouncy “Body On Me”), might want to pay close attention to the song’s message.

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