WATCH: ESSENCE Clocked In with Ari Lennox

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Ari Lennox sits down with Danielle Wright and talks about ESSENCE Festival of The Culture, her hit album Shea Butter baby , new music and more.

Transcript

00:00What's up, Essence? It is your content editor, Danielle Wright here, and I am with the beautiful

00:05Ari Lennox for Essence Uncovered. Thank you. How are you feeling, Ari? Feeling good. Love it. I'm

00:12so excited to chat with you today about all things, your music journey, Essence Festival. We're

00:17definitely going to get into it. So starting off, looking back, was there a moment early in your

00:24career where you felt like your breakthrough was right around the corner, like it was coming?

00:28I never thought my breakthrough was coming. I think I was always shocked with all of

00:36the success that would happen. I'm still that way. I still, yeah, just shocked all the time.

00:45Love it. So I want to know, how did the success of Shea Butter Baby, which is my favorite classic

00:52R&B album? Wow. Thank you. Quest, girl. Thank you so much. I had to tell her. But change your

00:58perspective on music and your platform. Well, I'll say that when I was making the album, I was just

01:07having fun with my friends. Ali, Ron Gilmore, Omen, DJ Grumble, Masego, Kojo. I'm sure I'm missing

01:20someone. Someone's going to kill me. But yeah, it was just a beautiful time. And yeah, I honestly,

01:28once we got to the end, I felt like maybe I shouldn't, maybe it wasn't ready to drop yet.

01:34I felt like I needed more hits. I was so excited to have Shea Butter Baby, but I felt like I needed

01:43another Shea Butter Baby. But I'm grateful that people love it the way that it is. But yeah,

01:49honestly felt like it was incomplete. So once again, shock. I love it. Yeah. I think that's so

01:57interesting to hear you say that. And I love to always hear like an artist's perspective because

02:01I'm like hits. That whole album is a hit to me, first of all. But also it's like you made an anthem

02:09for, you know, Black girls to like, enjoy their new apartment with. Like when I got my new apartment,

02:16that was the first song I played on my iPod, like literally. So I love that album.

02:21Appreciate it. Thank you.

02:22Is there a song that the fans have obsessed with that has taken you by surprise?

02:28I'll say Pedigree. I was shocked. I mean, that's, I love that song. I always wanted to do like

02:35something really fun. I love DJ Grumble. Yeah, I was just shocked to see how people are really just

02:42going for it. And it's getting lots of streams. I was just shocked, especially because I dropped it

02:49so long ago, like way before Shea Butter Baby, I believe. And so it's nice to see that it's getting

02:55a lot of love now and today. For sure. For sure. What was it like navigating, you know,

03:02the pressure of following up with Shea Butter Baby with Age, Sex Location, which is kind of like

03:07your recent album. Honestly, I felt, I felt a little nervous, but I, I also wanted to play it safe.

03:15Ironically, I, yeah, I just wanted to make sure I kept it as soulful as possible. I was scared,

03:22honestly, to try things that were like two left. But I, you know, I put my, I dipped my foot in the

03:31water a little bit with like pressure. It's changed my life outside by the phenomenal

03:36organized noise. Rest in peace to Rico. Yeah, it was just, it was just beautiful. I was, I was

03:46pretty even tempered, but it dropped and I didn't see that maybe it was doing very well. It seemed like

03:56the first week sales or something. I don't remember what they were, but I just was haunted by,

04:02you know, some people trolling that. And then, but so yeah, my tour, my agent at the time was like,

04:13so you ready for this tour? And I'm just like, no, I don't think anyone's going to come.

04:17And so I was really scared. And he was just like, well, I think you should do some openers and all

04:22this stuff. And I was like, well, please, I just need to know if we drop a tour, can it just be my

04:27name first, just to make sure that whoever's coming, I want to know, like they're coming for

04:32me for you. And I just needed to see that, you know, I needed to feel that. And so we did it and

04:37it sold out and it was 80,000 tickets. And I had no idea in my life that I could do something like

04:42that. So it made me feel like, oh, okay, I guess this album was pretty dang long good to somebody.

04:48Yeah. Well, first of all, it was phenomenal. And second of all, I think one thing that's

04:53really cool about you as an artist is that you sound amazing live as you do in a studio.

05:01Like not a lot of people act like that, but you do. And it's like, you just kill it every time.

05:07I just have to give my girl her flowers. Thank you. Thank you so much.

05:11Of course. So you're actually coming back to Essence Festival this year. How does it feel to

05:16hit the New Orleans stage again? Oh, it's home every time. It's home every time. I feel so loved

05:24every time by Essence. I'm just excited. I just feel celebrated there. It means the world to me

05:31how much they help me make a living, how much they just deem me special. It just feels like a hug. It

05:41feels like family. And it's beautiful vibes. I bring my family out almost every time. And it's

05:48good energy, good food. I love New Orleans. The men are so hot. Everyone is beautiful there. And it's

05:55just a beautiful time. Just all of these beautiful Black people. Yeah, it's just, it's great. I love it.

06:02Love it. So winding down a little bit, what is next for Ari? You just released Soft Girl Era.

06:09You're getting ready to do all this new music. You know, what's next for Ari in 2025?

06:14Honestly, I'm chilling. I'm chilling. I'm taking my time. I just want to drop one song at a time.

06:24Honestly, I don't want to rush the album. I just want to keep following my heart, keep working with

06:28like my favorite producers, work with some new producers. I think it's important that I start

06:33writing again more. I'm going to be real. After Shea Butter Baby, I kind of was exhausted with

06:40writing. I've been writing all my life. I'm 34, but yeah, I've been writing like ever since I was

06:46probably like eight or something. And, you know, from the Phu album to Shea Butter Baby to

06:54Ariography. And then like there's this mixtape called, what the hell was it called? Five Finger

07:00Discount. Like I've been writing. So after Shea Butter Baby happened, I honestly didn't have much

07:06to say. I didn't have much to say for a long time. And so I welcomed the collaboration of like

07:13legendary songwriters from Jazzy to Aunt Clemens to Jalen Jazzy. So, but now I'm in a space where

07:23like, I want to see what the hell is going on inside of me. Like I want to get it out. I want

07:28to figure that out again. So that's what I want to do. I just want to take my time this year and

07:34bright and experience life. So yeah, I don't know. Just, just that is what I want to do this year.

07:43Well, listening, the Estes, Danielle will be so excited for when you start dropping more music

07:49like this summer or this year. And yeah. So thank you so much, Ari, for chatting with the

07:56Essies. This has been Essence Uncovered. Until next time.

07:59So thank you so much.

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