Ashanti responded during a Dec. 10 appearance on “The Breakfast Club” to Murder Inc. co-founder Irv Gotti‘s viral comments about her re-recording her debut album.
Last month, Gotti claimed that he owns the singer’s earlier albums and their masters while commenting under a post of Ashanti’s past interview with Angie Martinez where she discussed the importance of an artist owning their masters. He also accused Ashanti of trying to screw him over financially by having fans pick the updated version of the album that she plans to record.
In her recent appearance, Ashanti explained why she is re-recording her debut album, while opening up about its business aspects.
She said on mark 1:24, “So as an artist, when you are in the game for a certain amount of time, you pay your dues, and things are supposed to come back to you. When you have a legal team that does what they are supposed to do so that you are able to function and own so with my album being 20 years old in April, obviously it makes sense to re-record so that I can collect my coins.”
In the discussion, the singer also emphasized that artists are given the right to re-record their older projects. She said once it’s completed and sent to streaming platforms all of the compensation from the sales will go to that artist.
“You get the right to re-record. So what happens is once I re-record that and that’s available that’s what goes to all of the streaming platforms and all of those residuals and that money comes to me.”
When the topic of masters negotiations with Gotti came up, the “Foolish” singer disclosed an instance where she did have a conversation with the music executive about wanting her files for touring purposes. Ashanti claimed that it was an issue with Gotti.
She said on mark 3:23, “So for me, what I spoke about was giving me my files so when I’m performing on tour, the band has what they need to collectively create the records the right way. So my sounds and my sessions and my music — so we can separate everything and the band can play the records as opposed to playing on a two track. We spoke about that a couple of years ago, and it was an issue.”
Ashanti also addressed if Gotti owns her masters. The “Only You” vocalist told “The Breakfast Club” hosts “no” and that if they want a complete explanation, they would have to talk to Universal Records. As the conversation continued, the 41-year-old brought up another time when she tried to “bury the hatchet” with Gotti to obtain her masters.
“I’ve been on a path for a minute now of just being positive. There were several conversations. I threw up mad white flag emojis. I’m about peace. Let’s bury the hatchet. You know there’s been an amazing foundation. We’ll always be linked musically. We’ve created history, broken records, all of that. So to me, it’s kind of senseless that it’s at this point.”
She added, “but when people are unhappy and bitter, it affects you mentally and some of your judgment. I’ve always come from a place of I’m a Libra, let’s have a conversation. Let’s talk about it. Let’s figure this out. This doesn’t make any sense, but I can’t force anybody… At the end of the day, a man has his prerogative to do and say what he wants to do. It doesn’t mean it’s right.”
When the discussion transitioned over to Gotti’s viral comment where he claimed the singer was trying to mess up his future business endeavors by re-recording her debut album, the singer said on mark 7:05 that his actions towards the situation were “too much.”
“It’s too much. You know at a certain age you would think that your mental would be in a different place, you know what I’m saying. With the social media, that’s forever. You got to just be careful with how you displace your emotions.”
She wrapped up her statement by saying although she could retaliate at Gotti for his remarks by being shady, she chooses not to because the ongoing public battle isn’t benefiting anyone.
“The thing about it too is, I can be [shady]. I know so much, I know how to hit below the belt. I know all of that, but I choose not to because what’s the sense? You know what I’m saying. I’m not benefitting out of any of that. I don’t get a high off of trying to put somebody down or exposing the real you. You know what I mean. I’m cool.”
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