Ashanti has started her new role as the executive producer and host of a new  entertainment show on Fuse TV, just weeks  after it was announced that she would be joining the network. Yesterday, she sat  down with Lupe Fiasco to chat about his new project as well as the concept  behind his new album cover ‘Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album  Pt. 1? which hit stores yesterday.

In the interview, he said:

One of the main reasons why I did it all black is because of a song called, ‘Men In Black’, written by the late great Johnny Cash. People always ask because  I wear all black on stage, like ‘Why do you always wear black on stage?’ and ‘Why is the album cover all black?’ and I always say just listen to Johnny Cash.  He’s the Man in black. The reason he wore black, [was] for the prisoner who has  long paid for his crime. He’s there because he’s a victim of the time. There’s  meaning behind it.

Ashanti also asked if Lupe was concerned that the blank black album cover  might affect album sells and he responded:

It’s the easier album your going to find.You’re never going to see album  packaging where every single page is blank. The back is blank. There’s no  tracklisting. There’s no title. I wanted them to have something to cherish like, ‘This is kind of history right here. I bought a piece of  history”.

Watch a snippet of the interview  below: