Ashanti Reveals She’s Been Sexually Harassed – It Could Happen To Anyone

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“You can feel that someone is cool and in the back of their mind, they have an ulterior motive,” the R&B singer said.

Throughout her career, Ashanti she’s managed to top the charts multiple times, she’s won a Grammy Award and even has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – but nothing has come easy for her in the music industry, she says.

“Honestly, I’m not sure if any other artist could do what I’ve done,” the R&B singer told People magazine.

Raised in Long Island, New York, with mom Tina Douglas (her longtime manager) and dad Ken-Cade Douglas, Assadi discovered her voice at the age of 12 singing “Reminisce” for her parents, who started to take her to local singing competitions. After two unsuccessful record deals as a teenager, she signed with the record label Murder Inc. in 2002 and quickly rose to fame with No.1 hits such as ‘Always on Time’ and ‘Foolish’.

“It was a bit of a shock from having a normal life until then, but it was a blessing,” says the singer-songwriter, whose 2002 debut album of the same name sold nearly 505,000 copies in a week.

Murder Inc.’s only female R&B. at the time, Asadi was often found to be the only female among male rappers and hip-hop artists. “I was always a tomboy, so I felt at home with a bunch of big brothers,” he recalls, noting that it all came with its challenges, which he welcomed. “If there was a beat I wanted and another rapper in the company wanted it too, we’d have to fight and whoever wrote the best record would get the beat. That made me stronger,” she said.

The singer does not fail to mention in her interview the creation of her 2014 album “Braveheart”, which appeared in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 – an impressive feat for an independent artist. But behind the scenes, he faced other difficulties. As he said recently during his creation he accepted sexual harassment by a music producer, who gave her two songs. At first, he offered her the tracks for free, before telling her: shower with me or pay $40,000 for each song.

“I really, honestly thought he was joking. You can feel that someone is cool and in the back of their mind, they have an ulterior motive,” she said, hoping that sharing the story inspires other women in the music industry to be careful before trusting their partners. “Things like this can happen in Ashanti, so it can happen to anyone — and I’ve heard worse stories.”

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