It's been an uphill battle for Ashanti to reclaim the "Princess of R&B and Hip Hop" throne she used to sit so comfortably upon. With Murder Inc. no longer the hit-making assembly line it once was, it's star female artist has struggled to find a way to re-define herself outside of her old sound. "Switch", a ridiculous Mid-West-tinged Nelly duet, was a blatant bust, while the more promising kinetic '80's pastiche of "Hey Baby (After The Club)" managed a sad peak of #87 on the R&B singles chart. So what's next: how about a trip through Mary J Blige-type soul melodrama on her newest release, "The Way That I Love You".

After poking through her man's credit card receipts and Sidekick text messages, Ashanti comes to the realization that all those whispered telephone call conversations behind closed doors that he's been engaging in recently aren't to do with plans for a surprise birthday party for her. He's cheating (yawn!!), and as expected, the breakdown begins. "After all of this time that we tried/ I found out we were living a lie/ And after all of this love that we made/ I found out you don't love me the same," she wails, in that ear-splitting, siren-like voice of hers.

So, we got pedestrian lyrics that offer no new twist to the "I can't believe he stepped out on me" hysterics and Ashanti's shiny pipes lacking the inner-grit to really make the song's emotions bleed; why is "The Way That I Love You" not a complete waste of time? Mainly because of the production. It's epic instrumentation roars with a stormy crackle that adds a rich dynamic to the tune. A waterfall spill of classical piano runs, tumbling drums and subtle horns build all these little crescendos that effectively play out Ashanti's perfect world crumbling around her over and over again with each throb of her aching heart.

At the tail-end of it's briefly sobering, harmony-and-bass-laced bridge, Ashanti finally manages to break through with a great performance moment where her piercing cries of "Why!!!" and "You lied!!" finally establish some sort of meaningful precedence. She still isn't quite capable of the raw, birthed-from-the-soul type of grieving that gives you goosebumps all over (a Mary J or a Fantasia would have accomplished that and more...), but her well-served attempt at a big finish embeds a nice send-off to this eventually respectable tearjerker.

(Still, fingers are crossed for them to hook up a video to that "Hey Baby" number; it 's probably her best shot at the big comeback hit she's in desperate need of right now)



DL: "The Way That I Love You" (YFH)