Ashanti exploded on the R&B scene with several hit singles at once. She started off as the sexy and sultry female counterpart to Murder Inc. rappers. Making debut duet with Ja Rule and Fat Joe, she immediately gained control of the charts with her debut album, the hit single, "Foolish," and an acting career. Urban hit maker Irv Gotti noticed Ashanti's stunning looks and signature dance moves (she studies at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center in New York), and helped sign and perfect the soulful artist.

Gotti made sure that she fit in well with other Murder Inc. artists, and quickly helped produce her debut album. At that same time, her duets with Ja Rule "Always on Time" and "What's Luv" with Fat Joe were both beginning to climb their way up the charts. During that period her single "Foolish" debuted, she was already holding the spot at number one and two on the Billboard Hop 100 charts. 2002 proved to be her most successful year yet, with eight Billboard Awards and a new record that compared her to the Beatles. Her second album, Chapter 11, debuted at number one, as did her single "Rock Wit U (Aww Baby)." She continued on her musical escalade, putting out the holiday CD, her third album Concrete Rose in 2004 and her most recent The Declaration in 2008.

As a serious musical threat, Ashanti started acting, with roles in teenage dramas like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." She later starred in the box office hit John Tucker Must Die, as well as co-starring in Coach Carter, with veteran actor Samuel L. Jackson. She also became the first African American woman to ever have a national campaign, which she carries with Herbal Essences. She is the face of MUDD jeans and Candies Apparel. She has a book of poetry called Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love, now in its sixth edition.