Ari Lennox

Courtney Shanade Salter, born 26 March 1991 and professionally referred to under the surname Ari Lennox, hails from Washington, D.C. and is the first female to sign with J. Cole's Dreamville Records label. Her first single was released on the label on October 21st of 2016 with the title Pho. It was then that she started to gain recognition. Shea Butter Baby, her debut studio album, debuted on 7 May 2019. Ari Lennox started uploading her music onto the internet in 2012 when she released her debut mixtape, Five Finger Discount and debut EP Ariography in the year 2013. The year 2014 saw her continue to make music available on the web including her self issued single Bound. On July 21 2015 she was featured on Omen's album Elephant Eyes in the song Sweat it Out. J. Cole asked her to work with him on Rihanna's remark. Later in the period, she released music that circulated throughout Dreamville. The day after Christmas, she confirmed that she had been officially signed by Dreamville Records. In the Album Revenge of the Dreamers II, she appeared on the track Backseat with Cozz. In October 21, 2016, she released her debut EP entitled Pho. Ari Lennox then appeared as the opening act to J. Cole on his single Change in the year 2017 and appeared on the 4 Your Eyez Only Tour. In 2018, she opted to appear on two of her songs along with label-mates EarthGang on Nothing but the Best and Bas on Icarus. On the 16th of July in 2018, Ari Lennox released the first single, Whipped Cream on her first album Shea Butter Baby with an accompanying music video which debuted on the 5th of September. On November 9 she released two other singles, 40 Shades of Choke and Grampa. The 13th of November, she dropped two singles titled The No One and Pedigree. Later, she was featured on the Creed II soundtrack with Cole on a track called Shea Butter Baby on November 16th. She released the single on February 26, 2019 to accompany her debut album with the same name. In February of 2019 the music video was made available for the song. It's already received over three million viewers on YouTube in its first week. She was the opening act for 6LACK as part of their From East Atlanta With Love Tour in December, 2018.