Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas was born on October 13, 1980, in Glen Cove, New York. Her mother, Tina Douglas, is a former dance teacher, and her father, Ken-Kaide Thomas Douglas, is a former singer. Her mother named her after the Ashanti Empire in Ghana; in this nation, women had power and influence, and Tina wanted Ashanti to follow that model. Her grandfather, James, was a civil rights activist who associated with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s.

After a four-year hiatus, Ashanti released the song "Never Too Far Away", which was featured in Morgan Creek's film Dream House starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz with Naomi Watts. The lead single from her fifth studio album, "The Woman You Love" featuring American rapper Busta Rhymes, was released online on December 15, 2011. Ashanti teamed up with Meek Mill and French Montana for the second single "No One Greater", which was produced by 7 Aurelius, Irv Gotti and Chink Santana. In April 2013, she released another single called "Never Should Have", which later won "Best Independent R&B/Soul Performance" at the 2013 Soul Train Awards. A music video for the track was also released.  In November 2012, it was reported that she had landed her first series regular role in the seventh season of Army Wives in which she played Latasha Montclair. The series was cancelled on September 24, 2013. In the fall of 2013, she appeared in a guest spot on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit alongside Clay Aiken and Taylor Hicks. She starred in the Lifetime film Christmas in the City which premiered on December 7, 2013.  In August 2013, Ashanti announced her plans to work with Ja Rule again, who'd been released from prison in July of that year after a six-year sentence stemming from a gun charge. On January 8, 2014, she revealed the official cover art and release date for Braveheart, her fifth album, which was released on March 4, 2014. In January 2014, Ashanti shot the video for the official first single from Braveheart titled "I Got It" featuring Rick Ross. The video was shot in Miami, Florida and was directed by Eif Rivera. In July, Ashanti announced that the second official single from BraveHeart would be "Early in the Morning" featuring French Montana. Upon release, the album garnered favorable reviews, with music critics describing Braveheart's sound as an "evolution of R&B" and praising the themes of empowerment, but criticizing the romantic cliches and lack of interesting moments on the album. On the charts, Braveheart opened at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200, becoming Ashanti's fifth consecutive top-ten album, as well as her first Independent Albums chart topper. It also debuted in the top-thirty of the UK R&B Albums Chart and top-forty of the UK Indie Albums Chart.  In 2015, she announced that she has been working on new music for her sixth album, with an unknown release date. Ashanti also teamed with Michelle Obama and her Let's Move campaign to spread awareness of drinking water with her new video and song "Let's Go". The video is also available at www.drinkupashanti.com. In 2016, she appeared on The Hamilton Mixtape, singing "Helpless", in which Eliza is introduced to Hamilton, whose part was rapped by Ja Rule.  In 2017, she announced her sixth studio album, set to be released in 2018. On November 6, 2017, she released the first single, "Say Less" feat. Ty Dolla $ign.

What was happeneing
single from her fifth studio album, "The Woman You Love" featuring American rapper Busta Rhymes,