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Ashanti will be putting down the mic in favor of reality television in the near future.

According to sources close to the same team behind hit television series Ugly Betty and It’s On With Alexa Chung, Ashanti has signed on to a development deal.

While terms of the deal have not been fully disclosed, sources say Ashanti will not just appear on a series or two, but will also grab the title of executive producer.

“Ashanti has entered into a new partnership with Reveille LLC as Executive Producer and will appear and oversee a new music based competition TV show,” reports Ashantithisisme.com.

Confirming the news in a statement, Ashanti says she’s excited and ready to start production.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to be working with Reveille LLC, one of the TV industry’s heavyweights, said Ashanti. “…I cant wait to begin production.”

News of Ashanti’s development deal comes months after a surprising departure from Irv Gotti’s The Inc. Records, where Ashanti launched her music career over eight years ago.

Ashanti’s last album, The Declaration, was released in 2008.

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by John Kennedy

During Tuesday (October 13) night’s airing of VH1’s Hip Hop Honors, viewers watched today’s rappers do their best impressions of Def Jam icons, but one of the night’s most notable storylines was Ja Rule and Ashanti’s onstage reunion.

The two former Murder Inc. headliners took the stage to revive their hits “Down Ass Chick” and “Always on Time,” the duo’s first joint performance in years.

“[Ja] reached out to me,” Ashanti told VIBE Wednesday night, a day after the tribute show aired. “We were talking on the phone back and forth for a week or two before the show, and when we saw each other at rehearsals the first time in a long time he gave me a big ol’ hug. It was back to years ago. It felt good to be on stage [together].”

As feel-good and historic as it was, however, TV viewers actually watched the tag team’s second taped performance. Due to an audio malfunction, the first play of the classics was scrapped and Ashanti and Ja hit the stage for an unscheduled encore.

“I don’t think it was [DJ] Chuck Chillout’s fault, but something happened with the music to where it started [sounding like] chopped and screw. It was just like, wahh wahh!” Ashanti recalled, imitating Houston’s lethargic music effect. “I was like, ‘Whoa, what happened?’ I would’ve just automatically stopped, but I just saw that Ja kept it moving and they kept the record going so I was like, ‘OK, I’ma go with it’.”

She continued, “It threw Ja off for the verses. And the timing, everything was off, off, off. So when we finished, I was backstage, like ‘We gotta do this over.’ There’s no way we were going out like that!”

Another un-televised moment from Hip Hop Honors was the hatchet burying between DMX and Ja Rule. Ashanti had already split–the singer/actor had to do early-morning radio the following day to promote the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, as protagonist Dorothy–but she was glad the on-and-off-friendly MCs made peace.

“I heard they made up. I was so happy,” Ashanti said. “Me and [DMX have] always been cool. We took a trip to Africa one time together and we were on the flight for, like, 100 hours. I was always like, it’s kind of awkward with, you know, where I was and who I was and then whatever it is that [Ja Rule and DMX] had between each other. So I was glad to see that they made up. That shows we can unite in hip-hop.”

Eminem, Foxy Brown, Kid Rock, Mary J. Blige, Method Man, Redman, Ludacris, and Scarface were among the nostalgic night’s many performers. -John Kennedy

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Black Voices Reports –

def jam
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of legendary hip hop label, Def Jam Records, ‘VH1′ Hip Hop Honors’ decided to honor the prestigious company in supreme style.

This year’s ceremony, taped at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last night, demonstrated how Def Jam Records and its architects Bill Stephney, Chris Lighty, Julie Greenwald, Kevin Liles, L.A. Reid, Lyor Cohen, Michael Kyser, Rick Rubin, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Russell Simmons established one of the most groundbreaking hip hop labels to date.

Comedian-actor Tracy Morgan hosted the show, which included appearances by Anthony Anderson, Eve, Jimmy Fallon, Oran “Juice” Jones, Brett Ratner and Chris Rock.

The 6th annual event found various Def Jam artists (past and present), reuniting and honoring some of their most memorable Def Jam hits. Queen of Hop Hop Soul Mary J. Blige and platinum-selling Wu Tang Clan rapper Method Man (pictured) joined forces to perform their Grammy Award winning hit ‘I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By.’

Other highlights below.spike lee

Rapper-turned-actress Eve introduced Murder Inc.’s former dynamic duo Ja Rule and Ashanti as they performed their chart-topping hits ‘Down for You’ and ‘Always On Time.’ Prior to taking the stage, Ja tweeted about the irony of appearing at the event alongside two of his former rivals, Eminem and DMX.

“Hip hop honors tomorrdef jamow me Eminem and DMX all in the same building lmfao this should be fun can’t wait lol!!!,” the Queens, NY-bred rapper (born Jeffrey Atkins) posted via Twitter.

Eminem ‘rocked’ the show’s opener with DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Roots by performing LL Cool J’s classic ‘Rock the Bells.’ DMX joined forces with Gym Class Heroes for his hit single ‘Party Up.’

Other performers included, EPMD, Fabolous, Foxy Brown, DJ Jaycee, Ghostface, Kid Rock, KRS One, Ludacris, DJ Nonstop, Onyx, Public Enemy, Redman, Rick Ross, Scarface, Trey Songz, and Warren G among others.

The 6th Annual ‘VH1 Hip Hop Honors’ will premiere on Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.