Ashanti Look Alike

by Sahra
(London)

Most people say I look like Ashanti, but I don't think so?

You go girl! I can see a lot of similarities! You could very well be an Ashanti look alike! I didn't know a lot about Ashanti till I looked her up, but man she rocks! What a hard working young lady she is! Ashanti is a tremendous role model!

Here are a few facts about Ashanti that you might not know.

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas was born October 13, 1980. She is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, and model who rose to fame in the early 2000s. Ashanti is most famous for her Grammy Award-winning debut album Ashanti, which featured the hit song "Foolish". Foolish sold over 504,000 copies in its first week of release. The album set a Soundscan record as the biggest opening week sales for a R&B female artist, outselling debuts by Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill. In the same week, she also became the first female performer to simultaneously hold the top two positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "Foolish", and "What's Luv". She broke records again by having three Top Ten songs Foolish, What's Luv, and Always on Time, with Ja Rule, on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the same week. She is the first female to accomplish this, being only second to The Beatles.

Ashanti was born in Glen Cove, New York. She inherited her love of music from her mother, Tina Douglas, (a former dance teacher) and her father, Ken-Kaide Thomas Douglas. (a former singer). Her mother named Ashanti after the Empire of Ashanti in Ghana; in Ghana, the women had power and influence, so Ashanti's mother wanted her daughter to follow that model. Growing up, Ashanti took dance lessons and sang in the church choir.


Her mother discovered her full singing potential when she overheard Ashanti singing Mary J. Blige's "Reminisce" at age twelve. By the time Ashanti hit puberty, her mother was already sending out demo tapes of her singing and dancing. Since her family could not afford to go to a studio and record a formal demo, when labels called, Ashanti would have to sing and dance in front of the record company executives. While attending high school, Ashanti began to write songs.


Ashanti started her climb to the top while she involved herself in schoolwork, cheerleading, and running on her school's track team. She was an honor student and belonged to the English club where she began writing poetry. She was also in the Drama club and starred in a few plays. She was an avid athlete, playing baseball, soccer, and badminton, however, her skills in the 100- and 200-meter dash as well as the triple jump, earned her athletic scholarships to Princeton & Hampton. As a consequence, she got her scouted by the Olympic committee. Ashanti decided to put her college pursuits aside when Epic Records approached her with a contract in 1998. However, the label's management changed and quickly made Ashanti a low priority. She continued to perform at local New York clubs and began hanging out at the Murder Inc. recording studio, hoping for another break. Ashanti was first noticed by Murder Inc. mastermind Irv Gotti because her beauty, dancing, and acting, and singing skills.