''Ashanti's Christmas'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American singer Ashanti, released on November 18, 2003, by The Inc. Records. Chiefly produced by label head

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and music executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R t ...

, it is a follow-up to her second studio album, ''

Chapter II Chapter Two refers to the second chapter in a book. Chapter Two, Chapter 2, or Chapter II may also refer to: Film * ''Chapter Two'' (film), a 1979 adaptation of Neil Simon's play * '' KGF: Chapter 2'', 2022 Indian period action film * '' Khuda H ...

'' (2003) and her first

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Je ...

. ''Ashanti's Christmas'' consists of ten tracks, featuring four original songs co-penned by Ashanti and six cover versions of Christmas standards and

carols A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with Christian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance. A caroller (or caroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to be carolling (or caroling). ...

, including "

The Christmas Song "The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells (songwriter), Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat K ...

", "

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

", "

Winter Wonderland "Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himb ...

" and others. The album earned largely negative reviews from music critics, who panned its production and Ashanti's singing. ''Ashanti's Christmas'' peaked at number 160 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 43 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart. As for singles, Ashanti released a medley which featured the songs "Christmas Time Again", "

", and "Hey Santa". A video was shot for the medley and it received moderate rotation on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. A reworked version of the original song "Time of Year" would later appear on Ashanti's second Christmas project, the 2013 EP '' A Wonderful Christmas with Ashanti''.

Critical reception

''Ashanti's Christmas'' earned largely negative reviews from music critics. Caroline Sullivan from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' found that Ashanti exhibits "zip" on ''Ashanti's Christmas'', further writing: "Her pure tones complement a very contemporary minxy streak that's dying to unwrap all those exciting presents. "Hey Santa" is the stand-out: a list of demands ("How about a diamond bracelet, a baby-blue convertible...") delivered with the charm that typifies the rest of the album."

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

editor Alexa Camp felt that the "production values on ''Ashanti’s Christmas'' are so bargain-basement that they actually match the poor girl’s singing abilities. Occasionally (and I stress occasionally), Ashanti’s voice actually outshines the low-budget,

Casio keyboard Casio electronic musical keyboards were first manufactured in June 1979 and continue to be made by Casio today. Older units in the Casio line, despite being limited, were and still are popular with independent artists like Jack Stauber and Outkast ...

production and

Karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

machine synth strings."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor David Jeffries found that ''Ashanti's Christmas'' features

's "least slick and least satisfying production work. Ashanti's voice fits sweet holiday music well, and she could deliver an excellent Christmas album given the chance, but it seems Gotti can't be bothered to surround her with anything worthwhile ..A drum machine that chugs on and on before someone has the good sense to turn it off takes up the last 30 seconds of the 20-minute album. It's a perfectly lifeless moment that caps off a perfectly humdrum album." In another negative review, Tracy E. Hopkins from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' wrote that "if you're looking for spirit, you won't find it on Ashanti's joyless Christmas album." She noted that "the thin-piped songbird nearly redeems herself, however, on the sentimental "Time of Year" and karaoke-worthy covers of

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto" ...

's " This Christmas" and the old standby "

." But even those songs don't generate enough warmth to shake off the album's bah humbugs."

Chart performance

''Ashanti's Christmas'' debuted at number 167 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in the week of December 6, 2003. It eventually peaked at number 160 two weeks later. It also reached number 13 on the

Top Holiday Albums Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine only Record chart, charted Christmas Single (music), singles and albums along with the other popular non-holiday Phonograph record, records until the 1958 Christmas and holiday season, holiday season w ...

chart. On December 16, 2003, ''

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

'' reported that the album had sold 37,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

Credits

*Milwaukee Buck – engineer *Daniel Cooper – marketing *Tom Coyne – mastering *Ashanti Douglas – vocals *Duro – mixing *Daniela Federici – cover photo *Chris G.O.T.T.I. – A&R *

– mixing, producer *Deidre Graham – marketing *Terry "Murda Mac" Herbert – assistant *Graham Kuhm – inlay photography *Darcell Lawrence – A&R *Demi McGhee – instrumentation, producer *Fred Moore – A&R assistance *Rick Patrick – creative director *Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds – A&R *

Chink Santana Andre Parker, known by his stage name Chink Santana, is an American R&B record producer from Washington, D.C. He is known for co-producing albums including '' Ashanti'' (2002), by singer of the same name, as well as its follow-up, '' Chapter I ...

– producer *Todd "Shortma" Simms – A&R assistance *Tony Vanias – recording director *Errol "Eezie" Vaughan, Jr. – A&R *Andy West – art direction

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2003 Christmas albums Albums produced by Chink Santana Albums produced by Irv Gotti Ashanti (singer) albums Christmas albums by American artists Contemporary R&B Christmas albums Pop Christmas albums