Ashanti’s ‘Declaration’ Pushed Back

It is being reported that Ashanti’s long-awaited return to the charts has been delayed – by a week. The R&B star’s forthcoming album ‘The Declaration’ was originally slated to hit stores on December 4th, however has now been pushed to December 11th. Many are attributing the date-change to the fact that Mariah Carey’s eagerly anticipated album is also dropping on December 4th.

In other Ashanti news, the video for her new single ‘Hey Baby (After The Club) will be shot this weekend in Los Angeles. Famed director Hype Williams is set to direct the vid.

Whatever the true reason for the delay, it makes alot of sense from a business stand-point. Though on different labels, both Ashanti (Motown) and Mariah (Def Jam) come under the Universal Music umbrella, hence going head-to-head wouldn’t be smart. Universal will, no doubt, be looking to maximise the success of both projects. Anyway, ‘Hey Baby’ has really grown on me and I’m thinking Ashanti may be onto a hit with this one. I’m definitely anticipating the vid.