Ari Lennox

The heiress to the raw and real giants of soul music, Ari Lennox is here to stay. The D.C.-born singer-songwriter catapulted to success in 2019 through her debut album, Shea Butter Baby. The project, now with over 1.3 billion global streams, spawned major hits: the RIAA platinum-certified title track, featuring Dreamville label head and marquee artist, J. Cole, the fan-favorite, gold-certified singles “BMO" and "Whipped Cream," and "Up Late," whose intimate video drew praise from ESSENCE, Noisey, Pitchfork, and Billboard. The album also reached certified gold status with the RIAA. Awards recognition capped off the debut era, with nominations at the Grammys (for her contribution on Dreamville's album, Revenge of the Dreamers III) three 2019 Soul Train Awards, and two 2020 NAACP Awards.

In 2021, she introduced her second chapter with the R&B throwback, "Pressure," produced by legendary hitmakers Jermaine Dupri, Bryan Michael Cox and Johnta Austin. It generated the best results of Ari’s career yet, becoming her first solo Billboard Hot 100 hit and dominating radio airwaves – flying to No. 1 on the magazine’s Adult R&B Airplay chart and No. 2 overall at R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay – all while racking up over 128 million global streams. Following the torrid release of her RIAA-certified gold record “Pressure,” Ari released her slow-burning single “Hoodie,” alongside Isaiah Rashad — who made a cameo in the latest video release. "Hoodie" along with "POF" received visual treatments and reside on her critically-acclaimed sophomore album age/sex/location. Lauded by Rolling Stone as an "R&B gem" and by Pitchfork as "her sexiest and most assured music to date," age/sex/location has entered the best album of 2022 conversation, courtesy of Ari's brilliance and unbridled passion to bring Soul back into the forefront of music. Live appearances have only accelerated her stature, with standout performances at the 2021 American Music Awards, her 2022 Coachella festival debut and a headlining appearance at her hometown's Broccoli City Festival earlier this month. The momentum only continued when she amassed four BET Awards and six BET Soul Train Awards nominations at this year's ceremonies.