Ashanti’s boo, Nelly hosted his 3rd Annual Black & White Ball in St. Louis earlier this week! Check out the pics!

Side Note: Did Nelly get veneers? His teeth look different?

Ashanti’s parents and her sister (yikes!)

Jermaine Dupri

Boys 2 Men performed! Love these dudes!

Nelly

Ashanti, admiring her man!

Murphy Lee and his wife!

PHOTO BY KATHERINE BISH

Even though rapper Nelly and Ashanti have kept their relationship tight-lipped, Nelly opened up (a lil’ bit) about his relationship with Ashanti. “That’s the thing between me and her, we just like having fun,” he told People.com at Las Vegas’ Lavo club. When asked whether their bond is serious, he said, “I think it’s always serious-when you can hang with a person continuously…and (still) have fun.” Earlier this summer, Ashanti would only call Nelly a “good friend,” according to People.com. But ya’ll know that ain’t true!

Do you think Nelly and Ashanti are GOOD FRIENDS or DATING?

Shanti and Nelly have been together since end of 2003. Do you think they will get married?

(Nelly’s face is priceless)

More Pics…

Ashanti looks great! Love the boots!

Ashanti’s Mom/ Manager

Photos by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

Libras are taking over my blog this month. Ashanti is one of the many celebrities who celebrated their birthday recently. She celebrated her 28th birthday at Detail in Beverly Hills, California. Celeb friends who showed up included Meagan Good, Tamala Jones, and others. Her boo, Nelly, wasn’t there…Interesting????? Check out the pics:

Meagan Good (who seems to always where those damn shoes everytime I see her!)

Meagan Good & big sis Lamyia Good

Tamala Jones

Pleasure P showed up

R&B singing stars Ashanti and Akon joined Nelly on stage for a performance of his latest single, “Body On Me,” on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night. Nelly was on our local radio station the other day, and when the VJ asked him about marriage plans with Ashanti, he avoided the question, but did say he enjoys spending time with Shanti and thinks she is very SEXY….awwww how cute!

Check out pictures from the 2008 TJ’s DJ’s Tastemaker DJ/Music Conference & 3rd Annual Ozone Awards. The parties began this past weekend and led to the awards that took place yesterday. Nelly and Ashanti attended the Music Conference lookin’ too cute!

Chamillionaire

B.G.

Former Making of the Band-mate, Choppa

The event went smoothly but for the scuffle between Mike Jones and fellow rapper Trae (as previously reported).

The complete list of Ozone Award winners:

Best Rap Album
Rick Ross Trilla

Best Rap Artist
Lil Wayne

Best R&B Artist
Chris Brown

Best Rap Group
UGK

Best Lyricist
Lil Wayne

Breakthrough Artist
Shawty Lo

Best Rap/R&B Collaboration
Usher (featuring Young Jeezy): “Love in This Club”

Club Banger of the Year
Webbie (featuring Lil Boosie & Lil Phat): “Independent”

Mixtape Monster
Trae

Most Slept-On Artist
Z-Ro

Pimp C Award (Trillest Artist) [Editor's note: i.e. "not afraid to speak their mind"]
David Banner

TJ’s DJ’s Hustler Award
DJ Khaled

TJ’s DJ’s Tastemaker Award
T-Pain

Best Video
UGK (featuring Outkast) “Int’l Players Anthem”

DJ of the Year
DJ Khaled

Best Mixtape/ Street Album
Tie: DJ Drama and B.G.: Gangsta Grillz: Hood Generals
Chamillionaire: Mixtape Messiah 3

Best Producer
Polow Da Don

Best Rap Artist (West Coast)
The Game

Best Rap Group (West Coast)
D.P.G. (Dogg Pound)

Best Rap Album (West Coast)
Snoop Dogg: Ego Trippin’

Living Legend
J Prince

Patiently Waiting: Florida
Brisco

Patiently Waiting: Georgia
B.O.B.

Patiently Waiting: Texas
Lil Will

Patiently Waiting: Mississippi
Lil C

Patiently Waiting: Alabama
Jackie Chain

Patiently Waiting: Louisiana
Mack Maine

Patiently Waiting: Tennessee
All Star

Patiently Waiting: Carolinas
Snook Da Rokk Star

Patiently Waiting: Kentucky
Hurricane

Patiently Waiting: California
The Jacka

Patiently Waiting: Arizona
Willy Northpole

Ashanti covers Page Six Magazine in its upcoming issue and she talks about her boo Nelly. The R&B Singer insists that her and Nelly are still an item and she looks forward to getting married one day.

She told Page Six Magazine thatNelly, who appears in her new video for “Good Good,” “is an amazing person with a big heart, who’s taught me a lot.”

Although she didn’t confirm if her and Nelly have discussed nuptials as of yet, she did say she was planning a wedding already.

I’ve been planning my wedding in my head since I was a little girl and it just keeps getting more elaborate,” the singer was quoted as saying in her cover story. ” “I want a lot of people there. I’m a huge fan of the ­Caribbean, so if I didn’t get married in New York, it would have to be on the beach.”

Ashanti’s parents have been going strong and married for the last 20 years and although they only had two children, Ashanti wants a house full with future hubby Nelly.

“I want 10 kids!” Ashanti told the magazine.  “When my aunts hear me say that, they say,  ‘Wait till she has one (baby) and that number’s gonna change!’ I love kids and kids dig me.”

Ashanti also said in a seperate interview that she is close to Nelly’s two kids as if they were her own. Thats sweet!

St. Louis Rapper, Nelly, will make a multi-episode guest appearance as a club owner/informant on the forensic crime series CSI: NY this Fall. Nelly is really doing big things…“He’s a great actor,” Pam Veasey, the show’s executive producer, told Entertainment Weekly of Nellz’ guest spot. “He really stepped up.”

As previously reported, Nelly recently inked a deal with Sean John has the spokesperson for Diddy’s underwear line, and also re-launched his new Energy Drink.

Ashanti got herself a winner! LMAO!
 

Ashanti released her new video for her second single for the album “The Declaration” entitled “Good Good’ Check her man Nelly making a lil cameo! Do you like the video/song?

I’m not really feeling this one Shanti!

Excuse you Miss Ashanti! Ashanti and her boo Nelly recently filmed their video for Ashanti’s single “Body On Me” featuring Nelly and Akon. The video was shot at Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada. She looks great! And of course so does NELLY!

More pics:

These wonderful pictures were taken and provided by:

© Erik Kabik/ Retna/ www.erikkabikphoto.com

Thanks Erik!

R&B stars Ashanti, Keyshia Cole and Raheem DeVaughn are set as headliners of the third annual Heineken Red Star Soul concert series, which begins Aug. 6 at Boulevard3 in Los Angeles.

More info Log on to:

http://heinekenredstarsoul.com/events.php?sort_c=DD&sort_l=DD&loc=All

Join us as we roll into New York City for an exclusive session with R&B superstar Ashanti. Performing brand new tracks from her highly anticipated new album, ‘The Declaration,’ Ms. Douglas opens up about music, acting – and the business of being Ashanti. Watch her full performance and exclusive interview at http://soundcheck.walmart.com/ashanti.html .

Readers who register with MissXpose.com will be entered in a drawing to win an Ashanti/Unilever Gift Pack which includes a copy of The Declaration, an iTunes gift card, and Unilever products. REGISTER with MissXpose.com TODAY to be entered in the giveaway contest!!!!

Ashanti performs on Soundcheck

by soundcheck2008

About Soundcheck

Soundcheck is an original performance series where you get up close and personal with your favorite artists. Check out live performances and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from original in-studio sets – all filmed exclusively in HD. Log on to www.walmart.com/soundcheck for headlining acts, noteworthy new artists and all the latest music releases.

Check out Ashanti’s new promo pics for her delayed album “The Declaration”. The album has been pushed back several times, but the new release date is June 3rd. Do you like her new promotional pictures (see more below)? She also did a spread in Maxim Magazine (see pics below).

Maxim Shoot:

3

I’m sure her man Nelly will appreciate these pics

Is Ashanti ready to have kids with Nelly? Well in the new issue of Sister2Sister magazine, Ashanti said she was looking forward to motherhood, but she wants to wait until she has enough money in the bank to take care of the amount of children she is hoping to have.  “I need, like, 12 (kids)… I love kids. I definitely want to get married… I’m so family oriented. I want the big wedding, I want the long marriage, I want kids,” she said. “(But) I’ve got to stack my cheese a little bit more… I want to be able to bring my kids into the world nice and comfortable.” In the interim, she said she is learning on how to become a successful businesswoman.  “First of all, you have to read everything. If you can’t then you hire someone that you can trust that can help you read every single contract,” she says. “It’s all about your advisors. If you don’t know, take a business class.”  The 27-year-old, who is dating rap star Nelly, says she’s planning to start her own record label, called Written Entertainment.

Rumor has it that the above is the official album cover for Ashanti’s new album, The Declaration. The album is set to hit shelves on June 3, 2008. Do you like the album cover?

Ashanti performed her single The Way That I Love You live in Atlanta last week.
Check out her performance:

Ashanti’s new album “The Declaration” is set to drop July 3rd. According to Billboard.com the LP is a collection of songs tied together under the theme “womanhood and empowerment”.  “It’s been a long time coming for change, and the timing was just right,” she tells Billboard.com. The album “touches on those low points in life that determine whether you’re strong enough to go on. It reminds women that they can’t let things get the best of them”, she added. The hit single “The Way That I love You”, which is currently No. 18 on the Billboard charts is included in the LP. Robin Thicke, Jermaine Dupri, LT Hutton, Babyface, and Pharrell Williams all produced songs on Ashanti’s album.

“Declaration” is expected to feature “Mother,” inspired by Ashanti’s close bond with her own mother, and “Click,” which she says is “a relationship record done from a female point of view. It’s about when you’re trying to get in contact with someone you’re seeing but he’s not answering, and by the time he calls you feel like, ‘I don’t want to talk to you now.’”      

Shanti plans on releasing a book titled “Ashanti Style” via Jump at the Sun/Hyperion. No release date has been announced yet.

What do you think about the song and the video? We want to hear your thoughts!

Rap group M.O.P. is searching for a new label home ONCE AGAIN. The group will sever ties with 50 Cent’s G-Unit imprint, the group’s manager Laze told AllHipHop.com. “As soon as I lock down the new situation, it will be official,” Laze told AllHipHop.com, adding that the terms were definitely “amicable.” “50 has been good about letting us move on,” Laze stated. “I still believe that we would work together. The relationship is much better from a creative standpoint.” MOP has been previously signed to Loud Records, Def Jam,  and Dame Dash Music Group. In related news…we hear that G-Unit is seeking to sign Ashanti!  Here’s what the NY Daily News is reporting:

50 Cent may be helping Ashanti plot revenge on Murder Inc. capo Irv Gotti. The songstress has been furious that her label’s boss wouldn’t deny rumors that they’d had an affair. “She was pissed. And now 50 Cent is trying to get  her to be a part of G-Unit.” 50 hasn’t always been flattering toward Ashanti. He told Playboy that “her music is not
 the hottest sh*t in the world.”

DO YOU THINK G-UNIT WOULD BE A GOOD HOME FOR ASHANTI?

Above is the cover to Ashanti’s new single, “The Way That I Love You”. Ashanti’s Official Website has unveiled the official cover for her new single. How do you like it? Rumor has it that the video will be shot in a few days along with the look for Ashanti’s new album. The album has been pushed back, to drop sometime in early spring.

Listen here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x42bge_ashanti-the-way-that-i-love-you-new_music