The Declaration Review

This season, while R&B fans spin albums by Mariah, Usher and Janet, Ashanti needs more pizazz to compete. On her fourth album, she's still doing the diva-by-numbers thing, alternating between angry-at-her-man anthems and lovey pleasantry. The shuffling "Body on Me," featuring Nelly and Akon, and the shiny electro-pop "So Over You" are a step up from her Ja Rule duets of old.
Read More...

It speaks to both the infrequency with which my tastes align with the general public's and the level of said public taste that when Ashanti finally released a single I could endorse without exception, 2004's "Only U," it stalled outside the Top 10 and the album from which it came barely earned its platinum plaque. So by that standard, The Declaration, the singer's fourth studio effort (her first in four years and her Universal debut), should be an unequivocal smash.
Read More...