In the middle of the 00s, every hardcore rapper had to have a duet with a sweet little R&B songstress. Those were the rules. Abide by them or suffer the fate of DMX. It also happened that more than half of the time, that sweet little R&B songstress was Ashanti, who went around collecting guest spots like they were limited edition Beanie Babies. Over the span of just a few years, she collaborated with Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Big Pun, Ja Rule again, Fabolous, Method Man, Ja Rule again, Nelly, and a posthumous 2Pac. Ashanti was the girl to soften your gangster style. Unfortunately, her solo career never entirely took off and she faded away without many people noticing. To get back in the limelight, she went back on tour in 2014 with (who else?) Ja Rule, but the duo was mostly overlooked in favor of another rap/R&B couple: Beyonce and Jay-Z, who were in the middle of their mega-selling On The Run Tour. During her suspiciously long time away from the recording studio, Ashanti also tried her hand at acting, landing her first role as a series regular on Army Wives. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled the very next season. Because apparently she doesn't get to be the focal point of anything ever.
