Ashanti Says She Wants to 'Slow Down,' Get Married and Have Kids — But Only with the 'Right Person'

Jeremi Byrd Ashanti

More than 20 years into her career, Ashanti is shaping an impressive legacy, reaping the benefits of her hard work and preparing to slow down in order to start a family — eventually.

"I'm hustling and doing what I need to do now, so I can chill a little bit," the R&B icon, 42, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, opening up about successes, hardships and how she's remained grounded throughout decades of fame.

Since hitting the scene in the early 2000s with chart-topping hits like "Always on Time" and "Foolish," Ashanti has been accompanied throughout the industry by her mother and longtime manager, Tina Douglas — who may just have predicted her daughter's lasting success.

During their first trip to Los Angeles, before Ashanti signed to music executive Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. records in 2002, while the young singer-songwriter was holed up in a recording session, Tina went to a souvenir shop and bought a $5 replica of a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. After adorning it with gold stickers spelling out her daughter's name, she went to the studio and gave it to her. "I said, 'You're going to get a real star one day,'" recalls Tina, 68. "She was like, 'Yeah, right, Mom.'"

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Ashanti

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Never doubt a mother's intuition. Ashanti received a star on the Walk of Fame in April, and Tina brought the replica — which she's kept in mint condition — to the presentation ceremony. "I genuinely didn't ever think that would happen," says the Grammy winner, who's faced several trials and tribulations throughout the entertainment industry on the road to becoming an icon. "It was emotional, knowing the ups and downs and sacrifices."

A few years after her meteoric rise to fame, Murder Inc. was accused of laundering drug money by federal agents in 2003 and went to trial over the matter through 2005. (Gotti and Murder Inc. co-founder, his brother Chris, were eventually acquitted of all counts.) Around the same time, Ashanti began dating rapper Nelly and ventured into acting with films including 2006's John Tucker Must Die.

Her connection to Gotti then soured, which he's since claimed was partially the result of a romantic relationship between them abruptly ending — allegations she denies, stating there was no relationship. "I had love for Irv," she explains. "We had our situation, but I think he blew it out of proportion."

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Following the release of Ashanti's fifth album The Declaration in 2008, she soon exited the collective, took a break from music and focused more on acting, starring as Dorothy in The Wiz onstage in NYC in 2009. "It wasn't a choice," she says. "It was something that needed to happen because of everything that was going on."

She then returned to music on her own terms, launched an independent label called Written Entertainment and released her sixth album, 2014's Braveheart, which debuted in the Billboard 200's top 10. "It's fulfilling to be able to say I'm independent and successful," says Ashanti. "I'm very grateful."

In recent years, the artist has consistently released music (with a brand-new album in the works), acted onscreen in projects including VH1's A New Diva's Christmas Carol and performed her catalog to global audiences of thousands. "I just played shows in Australia, New Zealand and Dubai," she says. "I held out the mic, and the crowd screamed 'Foolish' at the top of their lungs. That's an incredible feeling after 20 years."

She's also working to take her career further into her own hands with a forthcoming documentary showcasing many of her most notable moments, most of which was captured on film by Tina. "She has footage from the day I went to the studio to record 'Foolish,'" details Ashanti. "There's so much raw footage from way before Instagram and social media, which is going to make my documentary very special."

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Evan Agostini/Getty Ashanti

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Additionally, she's in the midst of crafting a re-recorded version of her debut album — which she, rather than Murder Inc., will fully own upon its release. "When you think about how the labels have been making hundreds of millions of dollars for 20 years, it's like, 'OK, thanks. That's enough. My turn,'" she says. "Hopefully, this inspires artists to know, at the end of the day, it's so important to own your creativity."

Looking forward, she plans to wrap up her current projects before taking a step back from work to settle down with a partner, get married and have children. "But I have to make sure it's with the right person," says Ashanti, who recently reunited with Nelly for a steamy onstage performance and told Andy Cohen they're in a "better place" following post-breakup tensions. "Trust me, there's a lot of guys that want to be my baby daddy — and they've tried."

Envisioning her ideal future as a mother, she hopes to follow the model that's guided her throughout her own life. "If I have an ounce of my mom's skills, I'm superior, honestly, because my mom is the s—," she says. "My dad is cool too, and my sister. But my mom's a different breed. They don't make human beings like my mom."