Almost 20 years after the release of her 2002 debut album, Ashanti, the R&B vet has revealed that she plans to re-record the project and release it independently.
iHeart reports that the singer wants total autonomy over the album.
“It’s so surreal,” she said while reflecting on owning her masters during her recent appearance on Tamron Hall. “I have an amazing legal team, and I got my first record deal when I was 14 years old, so understanding and seeing how things have changed so much from then to now and conceptually understanding what you’re signing is so imperative, it’s so important nowadays. The fact that I’ll be able to re-record my first album, and put everything together.”
Ashanti spawned some of the star’s signature hits, including “Foolish,” “Happy” and “Baby.”
The collection, which was recorded in the basement of her house, went on to nab the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2003.
“It’s so humbling. It is such an honour. I’m so grateful,” she continued. “It’s such a blessing, you know, the fact that we are still here, we’re living through a pandemic, and these blessings are still coming in, it just makes me so happy again, so humbled and such a believer. There’s a higher power, and I think that just being as a person and praying and putting your heart into things you get that energy back, and I think that’s so important. So I’m just really, really happy.”