Ashanti Writing For J-Lo Was The Gift That Continues To Give
Coming off her Verzuz with Keyshia Cole, R&B singer Ashanti spoke with Hot 97’s Ebro In The Morning about writing for J-Lo.
Back in 2002 Ashanti was asked to write for J-Lo who at the time had ended her relationship with P. Diddy. During the Verzuz with Cole, Ashanti retold the story of Diddy asking Irv Gotti if the song “Ain’t It Funny (Murder Remix) was about him, to which the former CEO of Murder Inc said no.
“Ain’t that funny?
It’s been a while since you came around
Now you want to see what’s going down
Tryna tell me why you want my time
Tryna tell me how I’m on your mind (On your mind)
See, it never had to be this way
You should have never played the games you played
Now I’m seeing that you’re kind of lame
Knowing how the situation change,” J-Lo on “Ain’t That Funny Remix”. Lyrics via Genius.
During her interview with Hot 97 on Tuesday (January 26), Ashanti recalls how her writing the verses for the remix came about.
“I wrote it for J-Lo. I think it was Tommy Mottola had reached out to Irv and they needed a remix for the original record,” Ashanti explains. “He was just like, ‘Yo just write something that goes along with what’s going on with her.’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ I heard the beat and I heard the original song and I flipped it.”
The remix became a hit and peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. According to Ashanti success of the remix is still felt till this day. The forty-year-old singer told viewers the importance of writing for others and owing your masters.
“That’s what I have to say for new artists and anyone coming up, please write as much as you can. Get as much percent of the record as you can, because when you have a classic timeless hit record it is the gift that continues to give,” Ashanti explains. “Work on ownership. I own my masters now.”