Now that Ashanti's career runs three albums deep, not including 2003's floptastic Ashanti's Christmas, it's high time Inc head Irv Gotti put the Mary J.
Blige comparisons to rest.
Mary -- power tempered with finesse -- and Ashanti -- consistently soothing, never overstated -- are entirely different stylistically, and a compilation of the younger singer's best work wouldn't stand a chance against her elder's What's the 411? or My Life.
Disregarding the ill-suited standards, an Ashanti album is always good for a handful of strong singles, as Concrete Rose helps indicate.
As expected, Ashanti firmly believes this is her best album to date, but it's no better or worse than her 2002 debut or 2003's Chapter II, with the standout singles, decent album cuts, and filler fluff provided in equal doses.
As opposed to Chapter II, which was essentially a production showcase for Chink Santana (with some work and guidance by Gotti), Concrete Rose puts most of the control back into the hands of 7 Aurelius, the one behind "Foolish" and "Baby." Excepting an appearance from T.I., the album is strictly an in-house Inc.
affair, with staffers Santana, Jimi Kendrix, and Demi-Doc also on board.
Ja Rule makes an appearance on "Turn It Up," the most energetic club track, and doesn't destroy it.
He also seems to be having a good time -- a rare occurrence in 2004.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Concrete Rose IntroSeven Aurelius, Irv Gotti | Ashanti | Play | 01:17 | 2 MB | 7 MB |
| 2 | Still DownAshanti Douglas, Malcolm Flythe, Irv Gotti, C. Harris, Clifford Harris, K. Smith | Ashanti, T.I. | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 3 | Message to the Fans (Skit)Seven Aurelius, Ashanti Douglas, Denzil Foster, Irv Gotti, Jay King, Thomas McElroy | Ashanti | Play | 00:23 | 0 MB | 2 MB |
| 4 | Only USeven Aurelius, J.J. Barnes, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti | Ashanti | Play | 03:06 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | FocusSeven Aurelius, J.J. Barnes, Jerry Barnes, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, Selan Lerner | Ashanti | Play | 03:17 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 6 | Don't Let ThemAshanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, D. McGhee, Willie Mitchell, Yvonne Mitchell, Earl Randle, Lawrence Seymour | Ashanti | Play | 04:23 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 7 | Love AgainAurelius, Seven Aurelius, Devin Copeland, Michael Dean, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, Brad Jordan, Winston Rogers, Todd Shaw | Ashanti | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Take Me TonightAshanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, Lloyd Polite, K. Smith | Ashanti, Lloyd | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | USeven Aurelius, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, Donald DeGrate, Jr. | Ashanti | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 10 | Every Lil' ThingSeven Aurelius, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti | Ashanti | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 11 | Turn It UpJeffrey Atkins, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, Curtis Mayfield, K. Smith, Kendred Smith | Ashanti, Ja Rule | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 12 | Buck 3000 (Skit) | Ashanti | Play | 00:22 | 0 MB | 1 MB |
| 13 | So HotAshanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, A. Parker, Andre Parker | Ashanti | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 14 | Don't Leave Me AloneSeven Aurelius, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti | Ashanti, 7 Aurelius | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 15 | Sister Stories (Skit)Ashanti Douglas | Ashanti, Shi Shi | Play | 00:45 | 1 MB | 4 MB |
| 16 | FreedomAshanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, D. McGhee | Ashanti | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 17 | Wonderful [Remix]Jeffrey Atkins, Ashanti Douglas, Irv Gotti, R. Kelly, K. Smith | Ashanti, Ja Rule | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 54 mins | 126 MB | |||||
| 54 mins | 362 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Won "Engineer To The Stars" Bee Allen | Engineer |
| 2 | Chuck Amos | Hair Stylist |
| 3 | Ashanti | Primary Artist |
| 4 | David Ashton | Engineer |
| 5 | Jeffrey Atkins | Composer |
| 6 | Aurelius | Composer |
| 7 | Seven Aurelius | Composer, Harp |
| 8 | Ashaunna Ayars | Marketing |
| 9 | J.J. Barnes | Composer |
| 10 | Jerry Barnes | Composer, Guitar (Bass) |
| 11 | William Barnes | Guitar |
| 12 | Erica Bowen | Recording Director |
| 13 | Milwaukee "Protools King" Buck | Engineer |
| 14 | Al "Boogie" Carty | Bass |
| 15 | Robin Clark | Executive Assistant |
| 16 | Devin Copeland | Composer |
| 17 | Tom Coyne | Mastering |
| 18 | Kenneth Crouch | Keyboards |
| 19 | Michael Dean | Composer |
| 20 | Donald DeGrate, Jr. | Composer |
| 21 | Ashanti Douglas | Composer, Executive Producer |
| 22 | Tinya Y. Douglas | Management |
| 23 | Tony Duran | Photography |
| 24 | Ken "Supa Engineer" Duro | Mixing |
| 25 | Easy Mo Bee | Beats, Drum Programming |
| 26 | Malcolm Flythe | Composer, Producer |
| 27 | Denzil Foster | Composer |
| 28 | Stephen George | Mixing |
| 29 | Irv Gotti | Composer, Executive Producer, Mixing, Producer |
| 30 | Deidre Graham | Marketing |
| 31 | C. Harris | Composer |
| 32 | Clifford Harris | Composer |
| 33 | Terry "Murda Mac" Herbert | Assistant Engineer |
| 34 | Ja Rule | Guest Artist, Primary Artist |
| 35 | Bashiri Johnson | Percussion |
| 36 | Gavin "YG" Johnston | Assistant Engineer |
| 37 | Brad Jordan | Composer |
| 38 | Terese Joseph | A&R |
| 39 | R. Kelly | Composer |
| 40 | Jimi Kendrix | Producer |
| 41 | Jay King | Composer |
| 42 | Darcell Lawrence | Production Executive |
| 43 | Trevor Lawrence Jr. | Drums |
| 44 | Selan Lerner | Composer, Keyboards |
| 45 | Jerome Leventhal | Management |
| 46 | Lloyd | Guest Artist, Primary Artist |
| 47 | Chris "Gotti" Lorenzo | A&R |
| 48 | Tammy Lucas | Vocals (Background) |
| 49 | Deborah Mannis-Gardner | Sample Clearance |
| 50 | Glen "It's Crazy" Markazi | Engineer, Mixing |
| 51 | Curtis Mayfield | Composer |
| 52 | Josh McDonnell | Assistant Engineer |
| 53 | Thomas McElroy | Composer |
| 54 | D. McGhee | Composer |
| 55 | Demetrius McGhee | Guitar (Bass), Instrumentation, Keyboards, Organ, Producer, Strings |
| 56 | Rosie Michel | Stylist |
| 57 | Willie Mitchell | Composer |
| 58 | Yvonne Mitchell | Composer |
| 59 | Fred Moore | A&R |
| 60 | Karen Moskowitz | Photography |
| 61 | A. Parker | Composer |
| 62 | Andre Parker | Composer |
| 63 | Rick Patrick | Creative Director |
| 64 | Lloyd Polite | Composer |
| 65 | Tenisha Ramos | Marketing |
| 66 | Earl Randle | Composer |
| 67 | Winston Rogers | Composer |
| 68 | Bill Sample | Organ (Hammond) |
| 69 | Chink Santana | Producer |
| 70 | Adam Scheurmann | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 71 | 7 Aurelius | Associate Executive Producer, Instrumentation, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 72 | Lawrence Seymour | Composer |
| 73 | Todd Shaw | Composer |
| 74 | Shi Shi | Primary Artist |
| 75 | Paul Silveira | Engineer |
| 76 | Todd "Shortma" Simms | A&R |
| 77 | K. Smith | Composer |
| 78 | Kendred Smith | Composer |
| 79 | Quinshae Snead | Personal Assistant |
| 80 | Rob Stefanson | Assistant Engineer |
| 81 | Laura Tamburino | Art Producer |
| 82 | T.I. | Primary Artist |
| 83 | Errol "Breezie" Jr. Vaughn | A&R |
| 84 | Andy West | Art Direction |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |