Album Review: Ashanti "The Declaration"

Disclaimer: This is my last album review to get caught up! I hope you have enjoyed this feature & I look forward to reviewing more great titles as they are released! Thanks for reading. :)

As Ashanti states at the beginning of her latest album The Declaration, it's been four years since we heard from the singer, but she is back & ready to take over once again. Ashanti may not necessarily be known for strong vocals, but she has noticable improved over the last few years. Evidence of this is featured in the album's first single "The Way That I Love You," a passionate song that has the singer showing off her vocals & giving us reason to love her again. Ashanti looks to give us even more with The Declaration.

The album gets going with "You're Gonna Miss," a sassy uptempo that has Ashanti using a vocoder & is very cool. "So Over You" keeps not only with the mood, but the quality as well. "Struggle" slows it down a bit & is more in the vain of "The Way That I Love You." The track is far from poor, but doesn't quite compare to the first single. The track that follows, "Girlfriend," is an average slow jam.

The Robin Thicke-assisted track "Things You Make Me Do" is next. Though the song features nice production from 7 Aurelius, someone Ashanti has previously worked with (successfully), I am not a fan of the track, most notably because of the annoying contributions from Thicke. Ashanti is more successful with "In These Streets," as well as the album's fun second single "Good Good." Nelly's current single "Body On Me," which features both Ashanti & Akon, is featured here in a modified form that features more vocals from Ashanti. The song isn't my favorite, but is definitely improved with the additional parts by Ashanti.

Ashanti closes The Declaration with a few textbook tracks, but they are quality, so credit to her for that. "Mother," a dedication to her own, is a decent track, but is made better because of the heart behind it. The inspirational "Shine" is also nice, but I seem to recall Ashanti using that card before (& even doing it better). The title track "The Declaration" is a solid finale that obviously keeps with the theme of the record.

The Declaration is definitely a solid effort from Ashanti. I haven't really given her previous albums enough of a chance to compare them with this one though. One problem I have with some of this new material is that it is somewhat forgettable, even if each track does basically have its own identity. It's also hard to get around the fact that her voice just isn't as smooth as your Beyonces & Keyshia Coles. Still, as seems to be the case with most R&B albums of any sort of quality, there are enough good songs on The Declaration to justify purchasing it. And one thing's for sure: if Rihanna is there, then Ashanti should be up at the top of the charts with the rest of 'em.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars