Ashanti Announces Pregnancy and Engagement with Nelly

Published: 18 April 2024 at 00:10

Entertainment

Ashanti, 43, announced her pregnancy and engagement with Nelly, 49, revealing it as a blessing full of love and hope. Nelly, a father of four, and Ashanti had dated on and off for almost 10 years and rekindled their romance in 2020. The couple confirmed their relationship in 2021 after being spotted together in Las Vegas.

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Ashanti Announces Pregnancy and Engagement with Nelly

Ashanti, 43, announced her pregnancy and engagement to Nelly, 49, in a candid interview with Essence. This will be her first child while Nelly has two adult children from a previous relationship. The couple sparked pregnancy rumors at an event in December and confirmed their reconciliation in September.

Ashanti (album) (Wikipedia)

Ashanti is the debut studio album by American singer Ashanti, released on April 2, 2002, by Murder Inc. and Def Jam Recordings. It was recorded in New York City and Los Angeles between 2001 and 2002, during the period of time where Ashanti was writing for other artists. The album features guest vocals from Gotti, Ja Rule, and the late the Notorious B.I.G. Contributions to the album's production came from a wide range of producers, including Irv Gotti, 7 Aurelius, Chink Santana, Jared Thomas and Reggie Wright.Ashanti debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with first-week sales of 503,000 units, the biggest first-week sales for a debut female artist up to then. The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of three million copies on December 17, 2002. It earned Ashanti three Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best Contemporary R&B Album, winning in the latter category. Billboard magazine ranked Ashanti at number 100 on its Top 200 Albums of the Decade. The album has sold six million copies worldwide.The album was promoted by four singles. "Foolish" was released as the lead single from the project and peaked atop the record charts of 15 nations, including the US Billboard Hot 100. Two subsequent singles additionally became top ten charting hits: "Happy", "Baby". She also performed on several television shows and award ceremonies. Furthermore, Ashanti later opened for the North American leg for Mariah Carey's worldwide concert tour Charmbracelet World Tour.

Ashanti (singer) (Wikipedia)

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas (born October 13, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She was first discovered as a teenager and signed to Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2002. That same year, she was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time", both of which were two of the biggest hit songs of 2002. She became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously with "Foolish" and "What's Luv?" at numbers one and two, respectively.In 2002, Ashanti released her eponymous debut album, which sold over 505,000 copies throughout the U.S. in its first week of release. The album received eight Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, and a Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The album has since been certified triple platinum in the United States and sold six million copies worldwide by the end of 2003. Its lead single, "Foolish" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and made her the second artist (after The Beatles) to have their first three chart entries peak within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. Ashanti wrote and provided background vocals for Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", which also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.In 2003, Ashanti released her second album Chapter II, which became her second album to peak the Billboard 200—with first-week sales of 326,000 copies in the U.S.—and ultimately received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 1.5 million copies. Its lead singles, "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)" and "Rain on Me" were commercial successes, peaking at numbers two and seven respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Chapter II was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, while "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)" and "Rain on Me" were each nominated in the categories of Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. In November 2003, Ashanti released her third album Ashanti's Christmas, a Christmas album which was met with largely unfavorable reception.In 2004, Ashanti released her fourth studio album Concrete Rose, the title of which took on Tupac Shakur's pseudonym "The Rose That Grew from Concrete". The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200—with first-week sales of 254,000 copies—and became her third platinum-certified album. Its first single, "Only U" reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart (becoming her most successful song in that country). Its second single, "Don't Let Them", garnered minimal chart success after Def Jam refused to fund a music video due to Irv Gotti's money laundering trial and encompassing legal troubles. Her fifth album, The Declaration (2008) was met with moderate reception and marked her final major label release; her sixth album, Braveheart (2014) was released independently.Aside from music, Ashanti has also acted in various productions. In 2005, she made her feature film debut in Coach Carter alongside Samuel L. Jackson. She also starred as Dorothy Gale in the made-for-television film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, which attracted nearly eight million viewers when it premiered. She has since appeared in the films John Tucker Must Die (2006) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007). Throughout her career, Ashanti has sold nearly 15 million records worldwide.

Ashanti Akpan (Wikipedia)

Ashanti Akpan (born 24 November 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chelsea. Born in Poland, she represents England internationally.