★★★★★
In the nearly six years since Ashanti's last CD, The Declaration, things in the game done changed: the label she called home for nearly a decade, Murder Inc/The Inc., released her from her recording contract. Instead of jumping back into the music biz, however, Ms. Douglas spent time in front of the cameras, cultivating acting credits in a variety of roles (Coach Carter, Law & Order: SVU, Resident Evil Extinction, Army Wives and a theatrical production of The Wiz) and lending her time and...
- www.soultracks.com
2014-03-18
★★★★★
As with anything that comes out of the Ja Rule camp, you feel like you're getting the shitty end of the Ja and Eminem beef, which makes you wonder what a female singer produced by Dr. Dre would sound like. On Concrete Rose, Ashanti stays firmly in her self-proclaimed "sexy R'n'B" genre, and the catchy single Only U is exactly that. But getting through a whole album of nearly identical hip-hop ballads feels like dry-humping post-coitus when all you really want to do is cuddle...
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-02
★★★★★
Is Ashanti afflicted with post-Beyoncé syndrome? On "Only U," the fervent first single here, she manifests symptoms: a sudden allergy to the sweet, coy and cutesy stuff that's been her hallmark till now (e.g. the word "baby"), accompanied by unbridled, uninhibited, moan-inducing desire. Ear-catching electric guitar injects Ashanti's voice ? usually as wispy and cloying as cotton candy ? with fresh zeal. Sadly, the sickness stops there...
- www.blender.com
2010-08-22
★★★★★
The release of Ashanti's fourth album had already been pushed back a few times, which wasn't a promising sign, but there was still some hope that the R&B; singer might live up to the potential that seemed to be lurking under the surface. Unfortunately, it's now all too evident why the The Declaration was delayed. Producer LT Hutton is behind most of these beats, and it's easy to see why he hasn't had a hit in years...
- nowtoronto.com
2009-11-07
★★★★★
Thug moll no more, Ashanti posits the musical question, "Why do gangsta boys go out with candy-pop girls?" Beyond some Mary moves and her sample-ready "awww baby," the sole outright attraction of her pathologically modest follow-up is "Then Ya Gone," which turns out to be about lovers dying rather than lovers leaving--although at Murder Inc., leaving is all they do, right?
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Great vocal ability isn't strictly required in today's R&B; market ? justask Chris Brown, Ciara, and a host of other hitmakers. But it does begfor personal dynamism, a trait that the feathery-voiced, perfectlypleasant singer-actress Ashanti has never managed to project, despite astring of successful singles in the early '00s...
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
This
season, while R&B; fans spin albums by Mariah, Usher and Janet, Ashanti
needs more pizazz to compete. On her fourth album, she's still doing the
diva-by-numbers thing, alternating between angry-at-her-man anthems and
lovey pleasantry. The shuffling "Body on Me," featuring Nelly and Akon,
and the shiny electro-pop "So Over You" are a step up from her Ja Rule
duets of old...
- www.rollingstone.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Ashanti Douglas' voice is the perfect radio-ready R&B; instrument: strong enough to ride over street-savvy beats but unassuming enough to be open to interpretation; better than Britney but less distinctive than Mary J. Blige. Lately, she has gained so much attention for her cameos on records by Ja Rule, Fat Joe and the late Big Pun that her mentor Ja Rule feels justified in labeling her "the princess of hip-hop and R&B.;" Like any princess, Ashanti is still working at figuring out the other sex...
- www.rollingstone.com
2009-06-08