Ashanti just lost a lawsuit and must pay her demo producer over $600,000 in damages. Why? Because said producer was promised in the demo contract that he could produce two tracks on her first major label release.
Ashanti apparently failed to live up to her side of the bargain because, among other things, the project studio she recorded in used a bathroom as a vocal booth.
Hands up, everyone who’s recorded vocals in a bathroom! Aren’t they great? Seriously, you can get really snappy vocals from a tight little space with bouncy objects. Why spend $5K on that vocal doubler when you have a toilet?
This little diva-spat is a great reminder that you’ve got to stay true to folks you meet on the way up. A clever negotiator could have probably bought their way out of that clause for much less, or simply let the guy produce two bonus tracks.