Fabolous’ “Into You” features Tamia and Ashanti on separate versions of the song, but until this day, there hasn’t been an unanimous reason as to why. The Brooklyn rapper shared his recollection of the recording process which the Canada songstress countered, but now, fans can hear Ashanti’s side of the story.
Following her long-awaited Verzuz battle, the “Rain On Me” singer made an appearance on Hot 97’s “Ebro in the Morning” and shared her thoughts on why there are two renditions to Fab’s 2003 hit.
According to Ashanti, she recorded Tamia’s verse at the rapper’s request but believes the version with the “Almost” vocalist was used after she was unable to appear in the video.
“Fab and them wanted me to shoot the video, and I think Irv [Gotti] … he didn’t want me to shoot the video,” she explained. “I guess he felt like I was being oversaturated. So for them, business-wise, it’s like, ‘Why would we have the single out with her and then not be able to shoot the video?’ And then, I think that’s when they got Tamia to shoot the video, and then do the song. I really believe that is what happened. ‘Cause there’s a bunch of different stories, but I feel like that’s what I was told.”
Ashanti’s explanation comes after Fab addressed the two songs during his Verzuz against Jadakiss last year.
At the time, he explained that Ashanti’s version was recorded while Tamia was getting throat surgery. “We got Ashanti to do the song because [Tamia] was getting [throat surgery]—and then we did the video, she was back,” he said. “She got her shit back together. … We laid the vocals after her throat surgery.”
Though Tamia didn’t actually offer her side of the story, she let fans know the Soul Tape rapper’s claims weren’t completely accurate, tweeting, “25 years. 8 albums. 0 throat surgeries.”
Check out Ashanti’s full Hot 97 interview below.