The astronomical ascension and collapse of Ashanti’s career have bewildered industry pundits for quite some time. Within a period of just 6 years – from 2002 to 2008 – the former Princess of R&B has fallen from the triple platinum success of her self-titled debut to barely selling 200k copies of her last album, ‘The Declaration’.
Although there is no obvious reason for the decline of Ashanti’s popularity, many agree that it coincided with the explosive arrival of Beyonce the solo artist – who is simply a better singer, dancer and performer – and the crumbling of the Murder, Inc. empire.
However, regardless of all that has happened, there are many who cling to the hope that Ashanti will return to relevance. Still, the key question that arises from this situation is this: what type of sound will she need to accomplish such a career revival?