Ari Lennox

Courtney Shanade Salter (born March 26th, 1991) better known by her stage moniker Ari Lennox is an American singer and songwriter born in Washington, D.C. She is the first female artist to be associated with J. Cole's label Dreamville Records. On October 21, 2016 she debuted Pho, her first EP on the Dreamville Records label. It was at this point that she began to gain recognition. Her first studio album Shea Butter Baby was released on May 7, 2019. Ari Lennox started posting her music to the internet in 2012 when she launched her debut mixtape called Five Finger Discount and debut EP Ariography, in 2013. In 2014, she dropped new music through the internet including Bound. She appeared in Omen's Elephant Eyes and from Sweat It Out, on July 21, 2015. Later that year her music was circulating around the Dreamville team, as J. Cole wanted her to work with him on some possible references for Rihanna. She officially was signed by Dreamville Records on 8 December. Backseat was a track she co-wrote with Cozz on the album collaboratively titled Revenge of the Dreamers II. She released Pho, her debut EP, on the 21st of October, 2016. Ari Lennox then appeared as the opening act to J. Cole on his single Change in 2017. She also was a part of the 4 Your Eyez Only Tour. The singer also performed on the songs Nothing but the Best by EarthGang and Icarus along with Bas and her labelmates. Ari Lennox dropped her first track Whipped Cream on Shea Butter Baby on July 16th. The music video was followed by a video in September. On November 9 she released two additional singles titled 40 Shades of Choke and Grampa. On the 13th of November, two brand new singles called One and Pedigree. One and pedigree. Shea Butter Baby is a track she sang together with Cole on Creed II's soundtrack on the 16th of November. It then came out as a standalone single in February of 2019 to coincide with the release of her debut album. A music video debuted 20 February 2019 in order to accompany the track. Within the first week, it had over 3 million views. As a supporting act she performed in concert with 6LACK during December 2018 on The From East Atlanta With Love Tour.