Ashanti is still fielding questions about Nelly, whom she ran into at Fat Joe and Ja Rule’s Verzuz back in September.
In a new interview with Angie Martinez, Ashanti was asked what Nelly said in her ear when he made a beeline toward the singer from across the stage during the battle.
“The crazy part is he didn’t say anything,” Ashanti told Martinez. “First of all, I didn’t know he was gonna be there. I told Joe, ‘Joe, why you ain’t tell me he was [gonna be there]?’ He was like, ‘Sis, I know. It’s terrible.’ … He was like, ‘I couldn’t risk you not coming if you knew he was gonna be there,’” she said, impersonating Joe’s voice.
“It was very unexpected,” Ashanti continued. “I hadn’t seen [Nelly] in like six years or more—spoken or seen. It was a little awkward.”
The two dated for 11 years before splitting up in 2014. When Martinez brought up Ja asking Ashanti if she and Nelly would ever rekindle anything, the artist doubled down on what she’s said before: “No.” She also told Martinez she’s dating someone and “definitely keeping it low and private.” Asked if she’s happy, Ashanti responded, “Yeah.”
Elsewhere, Martinez got Ashanti’s opinion on who won the Verzuz, with the singer responding, “You know I’m a loyal person—Joe knows I’m a loyal person. So my loyalty is always to Ja. That’s home team, obviously. I thought it was an amazing battle.”
Ashanti also touched on why it’s important for her to own her music. She recently announced that she’s re-recording her debut album Fearless after finally owning her masters.
