Ashanthi De Alwis

Ashanthi De Alwis (Sinhala:අශාන්ති ද අල්විස්), known simply as Ashanthi, is a Sri Lankan rapper, singer and songwriter. She is the only Sri Lankan female rapper who signed with international record labels Sony Music and Universal Music in 2006.[1][2][3] She began her career as a rapper with BnS, and continued that role after achieving solo success.

Ashanthi
Ashanthi De Alwis in 2014.
Background information
BornColombo, Sri Lanka
GenresHip hop, crunk&B, folkhop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer, songwriter
Years active2006–present
LabelsSony Music, Universal Music, M Entertainments
Associated actsBnS, Randhir, Ranidu Lankage
Websiteashanthi.com

Career

Ashanthi's first major label album was as half of the duo Ashanthi n' Ranidu, with the album Oba Magemai released in 2006 through M Entertainments.[4] Her debut solo album Sandawathuren was released in 2006.[5][6] This was the first hip hop solo album to be released by a Sri Lankan female.[1] Her general style of music is ethnic hip hop with massive market appeal. Sandawathuren was sung in Sinhala, with the exception of two English songs.[6]


Ashanthi has toured internationally in countries throughout Europe, North America, Australasia and Asia.[1][2][7] In 2008, Dialog signed up Ashanthi to be a brand ambassador for their pre-paid brand KIT.[8]

At the 2013 Derana Music Video Awards, Ashanthi won the award for 'Best Hip Hop Video' for Alawanthiyak.[9] She also recorded the 11th anniversary jingles for Y FM, Sri Lanka in November 2016. From 2020 onwards she joined with the widely popular The Voice teens (Sri Lanka) as a coach.

2013–present: "Rock the World" and international recognition

Ashanti released her first English Language Album 'Rock the World' in August 2013, aiming for an international market. The lead single off the album was 'Let's Give Peace a Chance', which was also recorded in Sinhala with additional vocals by Benny Dayal.

Gangnam Style (English R&B Remix)

In November 2013, she released a Track named "Gangnam Style (English R&B Remix)" and was released as a single on 24 November 2013, uploaded in her official YouTube Channel

The song received a highly negative reception, mainly for copying an international song and Ashanthi's singing performance. When the ratings of the YouTube video disabled by her in December 2013, it had already amassed more than 75,000 views, and had "dislikes" (95% of total ratings) from YouTube users. Later all the negative comments were deleted and from 19 December 2013, all new comments will be held on approval. Shortly after the video released, parodies and reaction memes began appearing on Facebook and Sri Lankan Online Forums.

After a long break for several years, in 2018 Ashanthi released two new songs. One is 'HANDAWE'which was mainly focused on cancer prevention and next one was 'HITHA DANNE MITHURANNE' which was a duet done with Randhir witana focusing on suicide prevention.

Discography

Albums
  • Oba Magemai (with Ranidu), Sony Music, 2006
  • Sandawathuren, Universal Music, 2006
  • Rock the World, Universal Music, 2013
  • Daas Panawa, Universal Music, 2014
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References
  1. "Infinite Success". The Sunday Times. 19 November 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  2. "Ashanthi to perform in London, Goa and India". Daily News. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  3. "Play that funky music". Mirror Magazine (The Sunday Times). Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  4. "Ashanthi and Ranidu". Sunday Observer. 12 January 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  5. "It's all in a song". Morning Leader. 25 October 2006. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  6. "Ashanthi uncovered". Sri Lankan Daily Mirror. 29 November 2006. Archived from the original on 30 January 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  7. "In a sense I am a solo artist – Ashanthi". Daily News. 10 March 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  8. "Ashanthi and Chinthy sign up as KIT's new brand ambassadors". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  9. "Art & Soul". Daily News. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
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