And… Just Who the hell is Ari Lennox, anyhow?

Courtney Salter worked a dozen or so jobs throughout her early 20s, moving constantly, and forever aimlessly. Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, Commander Salamander, Planet Fitness, Whole Foods, Wendy’s. When she was asked which was her favorite? she responded, Probably Planet Fitness. She elaborated… “That was the longest job I ever kept because it was so easy and breezy and I got to work out behind the desk.” “I came to work looking a hot mess every day. They didn’t care. The worst was Wendy’s. I remember cleaning the soda fountain and there was a whole bunch of roaches in there. That was terrifying. Actually, I worked at public storage too. And Uber.” “Uber technically was the longest job, from age 24 to 26, but I temporarily quit every time someone threw up in my car.”

Such were the necessities to work while honing her craft writing songs and singing, all after she found her focus and changed her name professionally to Ari Lennox. Now 30, Lennox looks back to 2009 when she completed high school and began thinking she had to do something with her life, “so I just did YouTube all day.” She states “Nothing really took off until “Thinkin Bout You” and Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love” covers, but even then, stuff like that keeps you stagnant. It’s like, oh great, she can sing, but does she have originals? So I completely abandoned YouTube and just went to SoundCloud”. “I was really conflicted because people were like, “You never make covers anymore! You’re losing me as a fan!” I just knew I had to focus on originals, and thank god I did.”

Lennox who is a D.C. native who has spent her formative years in the DMV area always knew her vocal abilities would carry her to stardom, but had to get everything “right,” she got her stage name from Mary Lennox, the little girl in the film adaptation of The Secret Garden. “She was a spicy thing,” Ari says. “I always wanted that life, just a nice garden and a sexy, tall guy.”

Lennox began uploading her originals on Soundcloud in 2012 as she released her debut mixtape, “Five Finger Discount,” and later, her debut EP, ‘Ariography‘, in 2013.

In 2014, Lennox continued to releasing her music on the internet including her independently released single “Bound”. On July 21, 2015, she was featured on Omen’s album ‘Elephant Eyes’ on the track “Sweat it Out”. Later that year, her music was circulating around the Dreamville Records, J. Coles label venture launched in 2016 via Interscope, as J. Cole wanted her to work with him on some references for Rihanna.

On December 8, it was announced that she was signed to Dreamville Records. She made an appearance on the collaborative album Revenge of the Dreamers II, on the track “Backseat” with Cozz. On October 21, 2016, she released her debut EP titled Pho. Ari Lennox later appeared on J. Cole’s song “Change”, and performed as an opening act on the 4 Your Eyez Only Tour during 2017.

On Shea Butter Baby, Lennox tells us about suitors being “lost in the shape of [her] hips,” and provides plenty of updates on her search for a sexy, tall guy. (No word on how the garden is going.) But she also sings about finding one such man in a CVS, while she’s a sick mess in need of Ricola cough drops. She sings about how shitty dating apps have been for her, and the unique joys of having her own apartment for the first time. It is an eminently relatable record, and the strongest R&B album of the year thus far.

At the GQ offices in early June, Lennox spoke about how the hell she made it to this point, the challenges of putting together the Shea Butter Baby track list, her prior dating app exploits, and why she really wishes people would stop comparing her voice to Erykah Badu’s.