Fat Joe’s ‘What’s Luv?’ was originally written for Jennifer Lopez rather than Ashanti.
The catchy single was a huge chart success when it was released back in 2001, but Joe shocked Ashanti during an Instagram Live video when he revealed Jennifer was actually supposed to sing the chorus.
The rap star recalled: "Irv Gotti and Ja Rule had called me, and they woke me up [at] like three in the morning, and they say, ‘Yo, come down, we made a song for you.’
"I go to the studio, it was like four in the morning. They played ‘What’s Luv?’ and you on it. And they was telling me, ‘Yo, this is for you and J. Lo. We want the Latinos on this.’"
Ashanti, who was calling in from home, admitted to being shocked by the news.
She said: "Yo, I never knew that."
But, ultimately, Joe was happy to work with Ashanti on the single, which proved to be one of his biggest career successes.
He said: "I was like, yo, J. Lo? She [Ashanti] sound amazing on here. I was like, ‘Nah, we leaving her there.’"
And Ashanti replied: "Damn. What the! You know I don’t curse in front of my fans."
Meanwhile, Ashanti previously claimed RnB music has been marginalised on the radio.
The singer released her self-titled debut album back in 2002, when the genre dominated the airwaves, but Ashanti now feels it’s increasingly difficult for RnB stars to achieve mainstream recognition.
She said: "When you’re listening to the radio, there’s not a lot of room for RnB.
"I think that it’s about finding that happy medium and having some merit in what you’re saying and creating a bop."
Fat Joe says What’s Luv? was originally written for Jennifer Lopez
