A few days removed from her record-breaking Verzuz battle with Keyshia Cole, Ashanti appeared on Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning. The 40-year-old New York native discussed her recent appearance on the show and her relationship with Cole, as well as dishing about her side of the story about why Tamia and herself appeared on two different versions of Fabolous' 2003 hit "So Into You."
Giving a simple explanation, Ashanti simply believes her replacement on the single version and music video of the track was a business move than anything else due to her media and music presence at the time.
"Fab and them wanted me to shoot the video, and I think Irv [Gotti]... he didn't want me to shoot the video," Ashanti explained around the 13-minute mark. "I guess he felt like I was being oversaturated. So for them, business-wise, it's like, 'Why would we have the single out with her and then not be able to shoot the video?' And then, I think that's when they got Tamia to shoot the video and then do the song. I really believe that is what happened. 'Cause there's a bunch of different stories, but I feel like that's what I was told."
She then went on to touch on her recent Verzuz battle with Keyshia Cole, clarifying that there is no bad blood between them despite what audience members suspected. While Cole was not in the best spirits, Ashanti doesn't hold it against her.
"Everyone has their days, you know what I mean?" she said, before mentioning Cole's technical difficulties during the show. "... There was probably a lot of stuff going on. It's a lot of pressure. When you think of that many people with eyes on you ... If her stuff wasn't together, of course you're going to be frustrated ... So on top of being nervous and then having to deal with all of that, of course you're going to be a little flustered. So I would just assume that played a part into it."
Also discussed was her COVID-19 diagnosis and writing for Jennifer Lopez. Check out the full interview below.
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