Cool sounds from Ashanti

Ashanti made quite a splash when she released her first solo album last year. Her self-titled Ashanti unseated Celine Dion’s much hyped comeback album Brand New Day, when it entered the charts at No. 1 in February 2002. It also set a record for female artists when it sold half a million copies only on its first week in the stores. It instantly spawned a number one single with the song Foolish. And all this was considered so much more remarkable because Ashanti was a rush-rush job made to successfully cash in on her reputation as featured artist. The girl had to hit songs in the ten as a guest in recordings by other artists.

Truth to tell, Ashanti was already making number one hits long before she had released an album and before people had any idea as to who she was. This is because she started out doing those "featuring" slots in the recordings of artists like Ja Rule Always on Time and Fat Joe, What’s Luv? Both made the top of the hit charts and it was said then that Ashanti’s light and smooth crooning provided a desirable balance with the gritty delivery by Ja Rule and Fat Joe. Hers was the voice that lured in the kids and the girls into buying those recordings and was therefore also a major factor in turning those songs into huge number one sellers.

With the success of Ashanti came the wait for what the phenomenal 22-year-old beauty from Long Island, New York will release next. She was of course now in the invaluable situation of being able to call the shots but then there was also the dreaded sophomore jinx looking her in the eye. This is what the music industry insiders call what afflicts artists who make hit debut albums but are then unable to generate the same numbers and acclaim with their second releases. It is almost a sure thing that their careers will go downhill from then on.

Well, it looks like Ashanti also looked at the jinx in the eye and then proceeded to make an album steeped with the talent and confidence of a newly appointed pop diva. Chapter II is every bit as sweet and delicious as the first. Unlike the first time when her vocals seemed more decorative than the headliner of the album, she gets to do nearly all of the vocals here. Her singing is stronger and more confident and as before she had a hand in the writing and production of every cut. Proofs of how personal the whole album is are the almost autobiographical themes of some songs.

The album’s main concept is love relationships in various stages but the Intro/Medley which opens the set brings back the heady days of Foolish at the top of the charts. Living My Life relates her success story from her early days. The lyrics goes from the before period, "I remember the days when I was always holding my head down," to after "I made it this far ain’t nothing gonna bring me back down." Guest Chink Santana, who is also co-producer along with Irv Gotti, extols her virtues and serves like some sort of emcee. And though she now goes deeper exploring a variety of grooves, hints of the music of Ashanti still abound.

Rock Wit U (Awww Baby), an MTV Video Music Awards nominee for Best R&B Video is the first hit single. The other songs in the album are Shany’s World, Breakup 2 Makeup, I Found Lovin’, Rain on Me, Then Ya Gone, Feel So Good, which samples the late Barry White, Carry On, The Story of 2, Ohhh, Ahhh, Sweet Baby, U Say, I Say featuring Gunnz and I Don’t Mind.

Avril repackaged

While Ashanti is singing her reprise of success in Chapter II, Avril Lavigne, another one of last year’s major newcomers to the hit charts, has repackaged her trendsetting debut album Let Go to include more goodies. Buyers of this special version will not only get the entire Let Go album which contains the monster hits Complicated, Sk7er Boi, I’m with You and Losing Grip.

Every copy also comes with a limited edition audio-VCD which contains the music videos of her biggest selling songs, live recordings of Unwanted, I’m with You and Nobody’s Fool previously unreleased songs like Get Over It and Why, and exclusive behind the scenes footage that of course features Avril at work.