Ashanti Celebrates 20th Anniversary Of Her Self-Titled Debut Album

Awww, baby. Oooh, baby! Can you believe it’s been 20 years since Ashanti released her self-titled debut album?

The R&B star, actress, and author recently sat down with Nate Burleson, at her former high school in her hometown of Glen Cove, and reminisced over her career over the past two decades.

Ashanti’s name has been ringing off in the streets of social media as well as headlines in the wake of Irv Gotti‘s “Drink Champs” interview and his press run to promote the BET documentary series, “The Murder Inc Story.”

At the height of her career, Irv was hit with a federal money laundering case and he says Ashanti “ran like the cockroaches when you turn the lights on.”

Irv told Page Six, “She was ready to get the f - - k off of the Murder Inc. label and she was ready to abandon me, the person who made her. And yes I can say I made her. How do you know I can say that firmly? The minute I stop making her records . . . She has not made a hit since.”

While talking with Nate on “CBS Mornings,” Ashanti gave a different version of how things went down at Murder Inc. during that time.

She said, “There’s a definite dark cloud and I’m super loyal…sometimes to a fault.”

“I felt like this was my family. So, I have to be on stage and be like, ‘Aww, baby,’ and knowing there is a lot of drama going on behind the scenes. And it was a struggle leaving…just in having integrity in what I’m doing.”

Ashanti is currently in the process of re-recording her debut album to gain ownership of her masters and she has received her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Watch Ashanti’s “CBS Mornings” feature below.

Happy 20th Anniversary, Ashanti!