To promote her latest album Braveheart, R&B singer Ashanti hit up the studio with AOL's The Boombox in tow to get a bit candid about her early career and capture some performance pieces of throwback gems and some new heat, too.
The Written Ent. CEO explained how being brave (hence the album title) is the theme of her album in each clip before performing a song to correlate with her message of courage. She sang Chaka Khan and Rufus' hit “Sweet Thing” (in the style of Mary J. Blige’s version), saying she chose that song to show those who doubt her vocally that she really has pipes. "Just going back to the whole process of being brave, sometimes you just have to remind people, when people say negative things, instead of responding, you respond in a way where they can’t say anything,” she explains before she’s shown ripping the cover.
She also performed two new songs from the album, "I Got It" (sans Rick Ross) and the emotional "Scars," imputing how it takes bravery to overcome betrayal. “Being in a place of being betrayed, feeling like I gave loyalty and didn’t receive it back… “Scars” talks very deeply about being betrayed and being in a position to be brave enough to accept it, deal with it, understand it, and move on from it.”
She even performed “Foolish,” her breakout 2002 Murder Inc. single, being “Jafakean” (hence her “First Real Love” ft. Beenie Man), the origins of her name, and being brave.
Check out the full series below:
