French Montana, Jeremih, Rick Ross and Beenie Man are all featured on the album too.

"[6] On December 15, 2011, "The Woman You Love" featuring American rapper Busta Rhymes was unveiled as the album's lead single and was released for digital download a day later.

[10] "The Woman You Love" debuted at number ninety-seven on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for the week of January 7, 2012.

[16] In July 2011, a promo picture was released announcing that new music was on the way and a brand new single was due in August 2011.

[17] On July 26, 2011, Ashanti announced that her fifth album would be the first to be independently released via her own newly established record label, Written Entertainment.

With eOne as my distributor, I feel that their innovative and ambitious approach to the music industry, really gives my label a worldwide presence.

[24] In an interview with Power 99 FM in Los Angeles, Ashanti explained how the Oscar-winning film Braveheart inspired her album title.

The artwork was described as "The warrior princess strikes a bold pose on the dramatic cover art.

"[25] The image used is a screenshot from the music video for "The Woman You Love"; it was later revealed on April 13, 2013, that Ashanti flew out to Atlanta to shoot a brand new artwork with photographer Robert Ector.

"[28] "She Can't" was produced by Mansur, which was described as a sexy mid-tempo number with a chaotic beat.

"Never Should Have", also produced by Mansur, sees the singer cooing over a former lover she now regrets over a marching band-driven beat.

[34] The album was then slated for release in early 2014, preceded by the single "I Got It" featuring rapper Rick Ross.

[38][39] According to Ashanti's website, On March 25, 2013, a brand new song titled "Never Should Have" was released for digital download.

[44] Despite not peaking in any US chart, "Never Should Have" won Ashanti a 2013 Soul Train Music Award for Best Independent R&B/Soul Performance.

[48] However, in April 2014, during an interview with Mike Wass for Idolator, Ashanti said she was going with "Early in the Morning" featuring French Montana as the album's next single after its skyrocketing performance on the US iTunes R&B Chart.

Jon Reyes of HipHopDX gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Braveheart has a few of those moments that demonstrate sonic evolution and connectedness.

Though it is concise and cohesive, more than any of Ashanti's albums, it's still marred with glimpses of wanted grandiosity at the expense of artistic revelation.

"[52] Andy Kellman of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, saying "Although it took longer to complete than Ashanti, Chapter II, and Concrete Rose combined, Braveheart doesn't sound like it.

More importantly, The Declaration's lack of success – relative to those previous albums – doesn't seem to have changed Ashanti's direction one bit.

"[51] At USA Today, Elysa Gardner rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, stating that "Ashanti defies and succumbs to romantic clichés, her piquant soprano alternately teasing and sulking, lashing out and standing firm.

"[54] The album debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 28,000 copies in the United States.