The singer says there’s a lack of passion in the genre.
“I’m super excited,” Ashanti said. “Me and Metro Boomin are executive producing an EP. I’ve been in the studio for a while and we have been coming up with some amazing records. And it’s funny, I just did a Live with my fans Sunday I think? In L.A. I asked them, ‘Okay, what do you guys want? You want up-tempos? You want club records? You want R&B records? Ballads? What do you want?’ And they were like, a landslide. They want vintage Ashanti R&B with a little 2019 spice…which is why Metro is my guy.”
The “Foolish” singer goes on to say that her new music will feature “more bold” topics, so it’ll be interesting to see what she comes up with. When asked about what she believes is missing from R&B, Ashanti said it’s R&B itself. “I feel like there’s a void. I feel like people want it, but there’s not a lot of true, passionate, R&B music, when you think about it. Telling a story, being vulnerable and being visual.”
“I respect every artist,” she continues. “I respect all my R&B girls…my guys, too. You know, Ella Mai is out there, SZA’s out there, Sevyn’s out there and I just feel like as a catalog and a genre, it would be great to get that love and that support. You may not necessarily see an R&B record on the rhythmic chart or the pop, the Top 40 chart. But I think people want it and I think people need it.”
