Ari Lennox

Courtney Shanade Salter, better called Ari Lennox, is an American musician and singer from Washington, D.C., who was the first female to sign with J. Cole's Dreamville Records record label. She dropped her debut EP from the label on October 21 of 2016, entitled Pho, and she gained recognition. Her first studio album Shea Butter Baby was released on May 7, 2019. Ari Lennox began uploading songs on the internet in 2012, after which she debuted her first mixtape, Five Finger Discount, and her debut EP Ariography in 2013. She continued to upload her music online in 2014, including the independently-released single Bound. On July 21 2015 she sung on Omen's album Elephant Eyes on the track Sweat it Out. J. Cole, who was part of the Dreamville crew back then was interested in having her work on Rihanna references. On the 8th of December, it was confirmed that she had been officially signed by Dreamville Records. The album Revenge of the Dreamers II her appearance was made on the track Backseat with Cozz. In the month of October she dropped her debut EP Pho. Ari Lennox appeared in J. Cole's Change song. She also performed at the opening of The 4 Your Eyez Only Tour 2017. In 2018, she was able to guest feature on two of her songs along with labelmates EarthGang on Nothing but the Best and Bas on Icarus. Ari Lennox debuted her first single from Shea Butter Baby, Whipped Cream on July 16, 2018. A music video was later released in September. The 9th of November saw her release two more singles called 40 Shades of Choke and Grampa. She then released on November 13 two new singles called The No One and Pedigree. The singer appeared alongside Cole on her Creed II Soundtrack on Shea Butter Baby, on the 16th of November, and made the track available on her own single to accompany her first album. It was released with the release of a music video that was released on February 20, 2019 and surpassed 3 million views via YouTube within one week. In December of 2018 she performed on her From East Atlanta With Love Tour that featured 6LACK.