MUSIC MONDAYS - Ari Lennox - Creators For The Culture

#RunTheCulture

This week’s #MusicMonday selection is the singer, songwriter and Dreamville Records burgeoning star Ari Lennox.

Repping Washington, D.C. Courtney Shanade Salter aka Ari Lennox has had a slow but steady ascension in the music game and is now finally starting to breakout big time. She has been signed to J. Cole’s Dreamville Records since late 2015 and has made appearances on multiple Cole projects including the song “Change” and even opened for Cole on his 2017 4 Your Eyez Only Tour. On October 21, 2016, she released her debut EP titled Pho to rave reviews from music journalist and her buzz on the underground R&B scene started to grow.

Ari really began to breakout however with the release of her the first single, “Whipped Cream” for her debut album in July of 2018. She released four more singles called “40 Shades of Choke”, “Grampa”, “No One” and “Pedigree”. She then appeared on the Creed II soundtrack with Cole on the breakout track entitled “Shea Butter Baby” and released it as an official single for her debut album of the same name that dropped of February 26th 2019. The music video surpassed 3 million views on YouTube within the first week and is fresh off tour with 6LACK so things are now moving fast for Ari.

Blending classic Motown, modern R&B, and new-age soul into one beautifully artistic package is Ari’s sound. And for inspiration she has referenced many of the best musical creators for The Culture like Ella Fitzgerald, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Bilal, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill, and Minnie Riperton. And her soulful sound and unabashedly pro black lyrics are clear indicators of those influences. Ari Lennox is making new music with a bit of an old feel to it that R&B fans of The Culture should no doubt be on the lookout for.