Ashanti sat down for an interview with radio host Angie Martinez earlier this week and discussed the importance of owning her own music. The 41-year-old singer is in the process of re-recording her self-titled debut album, which was released in 2002 via Murder Inc.
“The thinking behind that is showing the business side of ownership and how important it is to own,” she explained. “Once I re-record the first album, [I own it]. Everything purchased from that moment, I own.”
But Murder Inc. co-founder Irv Gotti took issue with Ashanti’s statements and explained to Martinez how he believes his former artist is essentially trying to cheat him out of money.
“@angiemartinez just for super clarity,” he wrote in Martinez’s Instagram comments. “I own all those great Ashanti albums Angie. I own the masters. And I produced all those great Ashanti albums. So I also own a good portion of the publishing. What she is trying to do is re record all those great records and put them out on her label.
“She can do this under the COVER laws. But she is basically trying to fuck me out of my Masters. And make people decide which album to listen too or stream. Hoping her loyal fans will choose her version.”
Gotti ultimately seemed to come to terms with Ashanti’s move and wrote at the end, “But hey. I stand on the Magic that was created. And I wanna see her duplicate that Magic. It’s fucked up really. But such is life.”
Hundreds of people applauded Ashanti’s move, while criticizing Gotti for “showing his greed.”
Ashanti initially announced she’d finally acquired her masters in September during an interview with Tamron Hall.
“Tt’s so surreal,” Ashanti said. “I have an amazing legal team, and I got my first record deal when I was 14 years old, so understanding and seeing how things have changed so much from then to now and conceptually understanding what you’re signing is so imperative. It’s so important nowadays. The fact that I’ll be able to re-record my first album, and put everything together.”
Ashanti To Re-Record Debut Album After Becoming Latest R&B Star To Own Her Masters
She added, “It’s so humbling. It is such an honor. I’m so grateful. It’s such a blessing, you know, the fact that we are still here, we’re living through a pandemic, and these blessings are still coming in, it just makes me so happy again, so humbled and such a believer. There’s a higher power, and I think that just being as a person and praying and putting your heart into things you get that energy back, and I think that’s so important. So I’m just really, really happy.”
The importance of owning masters has become a heavy topic of conversation over the past few years. In September 2020, Kanye West put Universal Music Group and Sony on blast, threatening legal action if the labels didn’t let him out of his contract. At the same time, he vowed his children would own his masters one day.
Gotti did the work. He is the creative genius behind Ashanti’s success. Ashanti needs to create her own and new music.
How did he do the work when she wrote all of her own songs? He didn’t even produce a beat… What he did was what so many in that industry does take advantage of young starving unknowing artists then wanna get mad when the artists learn better… Same with Aaliyah ,Megan, Da Baby even Jay Z so stop it
That part…
I thought she REALLY fucked Irv Gotti lolz word on the streets is he had her tooted to moon with her booty hole winking back at him with his thumb in it while he was sprung drillin shantes stink box
Yep and Nelly too lol
ehhh, Ashanti had some big hits and did big numbers for sure, but is this even really that big of a deal? Sure she’ll get halfway decent streams for some time, but actual album sales? Doubt it.. And with streams paying fractions of a penny per listen, not gonna amount to much. And unless she adds something or improves the songs (with real instrumentation, better production or arrangements), likely people will prefer the originals anyway. Lastly, she probably wouldnt feel the need to have done this unless she had a shitty deal with the Inc to begin with
Gotta think like these labels think. That’s what a label would tell a artist to discourage them from wanting to own their masters years later. Telling them their isn’t really any money into it. I would turn around and asked the labels well why do you want to own them so bad??? There is definitely enough money to want to own it. Royalties from streaming, including spotify, apple music, amazon, youtube, youtube music, physical sales, licensing your music to commercials, tv shows, movies, samples. It’s about recurring payments when your not doing anything but sitting back. Also if she has kids, the kids will have a chance to collect from the record years down the road
Who cares. Nobody is listening to her in 2021. She had her buzz 20 years ago, should have save her money and not had an affair with Irv gotti when he was married
Um…does she think she’s Taylor Swift?
Good for her, people who rocked with her back then will continue to support her. It’s not like the young generation has a bunch of female R&B singers killing it. Instead this generation is busy killing each other.
check the murder rate in the 90s, this generation straight punani aint nobody worried bout these skinny jeans wannabes
she didn’t do anything wrong its ok she pays her duo’s
Y’all as simple as 1+1 lol, that’s why these celebrities and politicians play us for dumbies…ashanti and Irv are into this together, it’s all non fictional dramatization…ashanti, if she would do that, she would hire a lawyer, and the lawyer would tell her that she can’t…and Irv, would be told by his lawyer, to wait for her profit and she the sh8 out of her…but nooooo, Irv had to finish the magic stupid trick with that last statement and y’all bought it….they are capitalizing off that verzus with Joe and ja, and watch, ja will be releasing and remixing old stuff too …but kanan who really fcked y’all will be co.ing ?
You dumb
No you can do this and it’s done all the time idiot.
It won’t do like the first album. Murder Inc had it poppin back then. You can’t do just one good album. Eazy E remixed Boyz N the Hood on his ep. It was ok. But it didn’t match that classic.
they play you for stupid because you are…can tell just by reading this lmao
can’t knock her. Majority of rappers and r&b artists form her era did the same thing. For a little up front and a promise to develop and promote her work she signed away the rights to her music. Nobody had smart legal representation to demand otherwise, they just took the check. Yes Taylor Swift is reminding artists that rerecording your catalogue means you own it. Most artists who do this don’t have her appeal or following but it is the intelligent thing to do moving forward. It opens the option to be able to sell your catalogue rights like every rock star is doing these days, even though the values are on different planets. It’s never too late in your career to start making intelligent decisions, salute hun.