Ashanti Drops in on One of Her Biggest Fans in New Series ‘Crashed’ (VIDEO)

If you are someone who grew up in the ’90s, then are likely extremely familiar with the work of Hip-Hop and R&B songstress Ashanti, whose collaborations with rapper Ja Rule ruled the airwaves back in the day. Now Ashanti is teaming up with Crashed, a new streaming show on Verizon go90, to surprise one of her biggest fans.The 10-episode series documents what happens when unsuspecting fans are nominated by their friends and family to have their favorite celebrity “crash” their day. Singer-songwriter Tinashe, Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas, YouTube personality Joey Graceffa, and more are all featured in the series first season.

TV Insider spoke with Ashanti about her March 2nd episode of Crashed, her advice to aspiring singers, and her future projects.

How did you get involved with Crashed?
A talent producer that I’ve known for many years approached my people and said they had a cool idea and we agreed.

How did you prepare for the actual crash?
I met with Ashley’s boyfriend and he explained what an Ashanti fan she is and how infatuated she is with soul and R&B music, then we chopped it up.

Ashley is a busker, hustling to have her voice heard. Could you see some of yourself in Ashley?
First of all, I never even heard of a busker until this show, [Laughs] but after finding out what it is there are definitely similarities in the hustle in the passion of music.

What advice did you give Ashley and what would you say to other aspiring artists?
Keep following your dreams and continue the hustle. Be prepared to have thick skin—for all the obstacles to come ,but in the end it will all pay off.

Which artist or actor, in the prime of his or her career, would you have wanted to crash you back in the day?
When I first started in the business at 13 or 14, it would’ve been Mary J Blige.

Who in your life would you surprise with a crash and who would the crasher be?
I would surprise my mom with the Jackson 5.

You were recently featured on the Hamilton Mixtape with Ja Rule and you’ve performed together a few times over the past few months. When can we expect more original music from you two?
My new single will be dropping this spring and Ja and I have been talking about working on a very exciting project real soon.

Any major Ashanti projects we should look for in 2017?
There are a few projects I’m working on that will come out around the same time my single drops. I just finished up an Australian tour and I’m currently on a European tour. I’ll have some film and TV projects out this year and I’m working on the soundtrack and score with LT Hutton for the Tupac film All Eyez on Me to be released June 16th of this year.

Crashed, Streaming, Go90