Ashanti Is Dropping New Music and Her First Swimsuit Collaboration

The Daily caught up with Ashanti ahead of the launch of her first swimwear collaboration with PrettyLittleThing (out today) to find out all about the collection and what she’s up to these days.   

Tell us about this collaboration of yours?
People have been asking me to do a swimsuit line for years but I never really took it seriously until I got a call from Omar (Founder and CEO of PrettyLittleThing) saying he wanted to do something.

Why a swim line specifically?
I travel so much. I’m kind of an island girl and I go all over the world. I’m kind of crazy  — I jump off yachts, jet ski, zip line, parasail, four-wheel, and all that kind of stuff. I like to document my [experiences] and people have been saying, “oh you should do a swimsuit line!” for years. I guess timing is everything.

How long did it take to pull the collection together?
Not long. Maybe a month.

Wow. That’s really fast.
Yeah, about a month. My sister was an integral part of the design process — coming up with patterns and unique, bold prints and colors. It might have been two months. As you can understand, for me, anything after a day or two is kind of a blur.

So what is it about the collection that makes it unique?
It’s Amazon meets the Caribbean — very eclectic and bold. There is a design my sister came up with that is zebra and leopard and snake print all combined into one. It’s with one shoulder and it’s high waisted and you have a kimono. There is a lime green zebra print mixed with a snake print. It’s super different, which I love. The pieces are also interchangeable. It’s super cool and you will always be photoshoot-ready.

Is this the first have you’ve collaborated with your sister?
She helped me out a bunch with my personal stuff, but but this is our first time collaborating with a brand. Like I said, she’s been integral. She was the one on a lot of texts and conference calls while I was up in the vocal booth finishing up my EP.

Is your sister a formally trained designer?
She didn’t go to FIT or anything but she’s blessed with an eye and a creative brain. She had a clothing line in the early 2000s called Dymes Only, which was amazing. She had stuff on Lil Kim and Miley Cyrus and it was such a cool brand. She had a store on Fairfax in LA. Urban streetwear. Very graphic, like a lifestyle brand. Wearing sweats and high heels and having it look effortless. I’m really excited because we have plans to bring that back as well.

Ashanti x PrettyLittleThing

Will you be partners in that too?
We’ll see! I’m going to have to say, “I want in on that, since you were in on this!”

You mentioned before that you have a new record coming out soon, right?
Yes, I do. I can’t wait for people to hear it.

Who are you working with on that?
Metro Boomin, Swae Lee, Tory Lanez, Jeremih, Lil Wayne, J White, just to name a few. Gotta leave some surprises!

When does it come out?
It will definitely be out this year. In a perfect world, while we are still in the summer months, but definitely this year.

Any other summer plans? More travel?
Oh yeah, I’ll definitely be traveling. I’ll be touring. I’ll be in Belgium this weekend and we have a huge launch party for the swimsuit line in LA this Sunday [June 30]. I’ll be in New Orleans for the 4th of July performing with iHeartRadio and I’ll be in Barbados for Carnival after that. A lot of really cool stuff. I have some shows in LA and Santa Barbara.

So it’ll be a working summer!
Definitely a working summer!