Ashanti, who recently obtained the masters for her hit music, finally received credit for her contributions to Jennifer Lopez’s music during the height of her pop career.
During her recent Verzuz, many were shocked to discover that Ashanti wrote the remix for 2002’s “Ain’t it Funny” and that she recorded the demo for Lopez’s 2001 smash hit, “I’m Real.”
“You should always care about credit for what you do regardless of what industry you’re in, it’s really important to give credit,” said Ashanti.
“Especially nowadays because things are so smoke and mirrors. It’s not that it’s frustrating… the word has been getting out there over the past couple of years and I’m grateful so a lot of people know and they were surprised but it’s more of a “yeah, grateful that you know,” she explained to The London Metro.
She added: “It’s weird because obviously you get frustrated for not getting credit or not being properly labelled but then that turns into something you get admired for.”
Ashanti’s self-titled album was originally released in 2002 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The Grammy Award-winning project spent an impressive 55 weeks on the chart, and featured some of the star’s most beloved hits, including “Happy,” “Baby” and “Foolish.”
The First Lady of Murder Inc. still remains appreciative of her time on the label, despite Irv Gotti recently calling her out over the ownership of her masters.
“It was a good yin and yang. I was the girlie girl and the young girl among all of these rapper guys, all these gangstas, so it was a cool experience to just have big brothers looking out,” she told the outlet.
“Sometimes it was cool, sometimes they get in the way,” Ashanti said, adding: ‘It was always a good feeling to have extended family doing records and shows together. It was a good time back then.”
