The Declaration is the fourth studio album by American R&B/pop singer Ashanti. It was released on June 3, 2008, almost four years since her last album. The album includes the single “The Way That I Love You”. Ashanti recorded fifty-two tracks for the album, of which fifteen were used including bonus tracks
- Intro
Ashanti opens up her new album as always with an introduction. It’s very dramatic and has a sort of military feel to it with all the brass instruments. Ashanti is talking throughout the introduction and it does feel cheesy after a while. That’s alright though, because what I think is one of the best songs on album follows swiftly afterwards. No Rating
- The Way That I Love You
The Way That I Love You begins with a beautiful solo piano piece which remains prominent until the song finishes. It’s my favourite part of the song and it sounds very melancholy and it quickly goes lower and lower in steps. The song is sung as a ballad, but the background music is actually quite upbeat and there’s a lot going on in it instrument-wise. Ashanti came back onto the scene with this song, which I thought was a great way to reintroduce herself to everyone. It got a lot of great feedback from critics, great radio play, and the video it just, wow. I think it’s so unique, it’s all very dramatic and creative. 10/10
- You’re Gonna Miss & So Over You
The next two tracks, You’re Gonna Miss & So Over You draw you in with their infectious beats and hot summer vibe. The two songs are basic upbeat summery tracks, but it’s actually a nice change this year, a lot of artists have went production-overkill, Timbaland, which really puts a damper on the tracks. So it’s okay and simple, and in some cases more effective. Regarding each song separately, So Over You is the stronger track between the two with it’s better use of synth. 7/10 and 8.5/10
- Struggle & Girlfriend
In Struggle, Ashanti’s emotions are beautifully expressed, making the track seem more realistic. It makes me believe she has gone through these emotions, preparing to fight for her relationship, even though it’s headed in a down whirl spiral. The song is a ballad in case you hadn’t already guessed. 7/10 Girlfriend came as a surprise to me because Ashanti has never done a song like this before, it’s very old school R&B and has a very sexy atmosphere to it thanks to Ashanti’s singing almost sounding like a whisper. 8/10
- Things You Make Me Do & In These Streets
With Things You Make Me Do the sexiness continues. It features Robin Thicke and I don’t like his voice so there’s not really much else the song does for me. I will say that the song’s jazzy instrumentation is nice and relaxing and Ashanti sounds great too. 5/10 In These Streets was quite bland to be as well, but Ashanti’s vocals definitely shine. Other than that, blah. 4/10
- Good Good
Yay we’re finally at Good Good! The Jermaine Dupri produced song is fabulous, although I’ll admit it’s a typical Dupri track. It’s similar to the confident summer upbeats like You’re Gonna Miss and So Over You but it’s more solid and focuses on R&B and pop rather than synth. It’s hella catchy and I’m glad it was chosen as the second official single – or the third? Either way I’m glad it was chosen. 9/10
- Body On Me
I’m not going to be bias when reviewing this song, as much as Akon annoys me. The song is your typical summer R&B track and is already becoming a hit, but unfortunately I think that’s simply got something to do with the fact Nelly and Akon are featured. It’s strange the track’s on this album though, Ashanti gets like one minute worth of singing. The song’s generic to be honest. 5.5/10
- Mother & Shine
The next two tracks Mother & Shine are both slow paced songs/ballads. Mother is a nice enough, but it’s the kind of song that you’ll never particularly want to play again. Ashanti, I don’t know your mother nor do I care. Waste of room for what could’ve been a better track. 3.5/10 I actually do like Shine though, the verses are sincere and the chorus is really uplifting. Maybe it’s because I’m feeling a tad soppy right now but the lyrics are getting to me. Towards the end of the song a choir of children sing the chorus and it’s totally cute! This track makes me happy. 7/10
- The Declaration
The Declaration sounds like a continuation of the album’s intro, which it probably is. Not that that’s a bad thing, I appreciated Intro’s dramatic and dark instrumentation. The song’s refreshing too as it’s the most hip hop/urban song on the album and a decent way to end the album the way it started out. As they say, leave the best ’til last. 8.5/10
- The final word…
The album starts off well but eventually goes quickly downhill once you pass the middle-most track Girlfriend, with the single exception of Good Good which I love. The album is saved at the very last minute with the title track The Declaration. A criticism I would give Ashanti is that she still lacks a personality when she sings, other than that, she produced a good album. Nothing amazing but still enjoyable.
Standout Tracks: The Way That I Love You, So Over You, Good Good, The Declaration
Fav. Track: The Way That I Love You
My Rating: 69% or C+
