Ashanti Biography
Ashanti Douglas was born October 13, 1980 in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York into a musical family. Her father used to sing and her mother is a dance instructor.
Ashanti began to sing in a gospel choir at the age of 6. As she grew, her musical talent developed and with it, appearances followed. She danced in a show at Carnegie Hall and in the Disney television musical Polly . It was in high school that she honed her songwriting skills and harnessed her talent for creating a story that people could relate to, song after song. Ashanti first announced her presence with the Big Pun hit “How We Roll †in 2001. Her sound was infectious and caught the attention of record producers. Irv Gotti, the polished producer with Murder Inc. Records, was credited with her discovery and what was supposed to be an initial collaboration, turned into a record contract.