Ari Lennox On Leaning Into Her Truth And Creating 'Authentic' Neo-Soul Music

Ari Lennox is glammed up for her first live performance in front of a crowd in over a year. Her makeup is beat to perfection, her acrylic nails travel long enough to extend her reach a few inches and her deep blue dress and wavy hair are both giving body.

But dont get confused. Shell still keep it real.

Im taking these muthafucking shoes off, she announces to the crowd two songs into her set. Cause I aint falling down and busting coochie. Like Patti LaBelle, Fantasia and other Black women artists who came before her, Aris barefoot performance taps directly into the soul of the music.

Ari is in her element. Fans and followers know her to always keep it real. She lets her quirks fly freely, whether shes asking her viewers if she needs to cut more lace as she puts on a new wig on Instagram Live or making a lustful, Pokemon-inspired song .

On June 15, the Washington, D.C., artist hit the stage for her first in-person performance since the beginning of the pandemic. The show was a part of Crown Royals Generosity Hours series, in which the brand committed to donating $100,000 to help hospitality workers in the Washington Heights neighborhood in New York City as the city recovers from the effects of COVID-19.

Ill say that its very therapeutic, because this is what makes me happy singing, she told HuffPost of her performance after the show. And its been hard singing for only cameras and not people, so to see people smiling and jamming with me, it just feels so real and surreal.

All eyes have been on the artist recently as shes gone through one hell of a transition in the last year. Fans have taken notice of her glow-up through her health journey, style and new music, which has largely been features with other artists lately, including with Queen Naija for Set Him Up and Jazmine Sullivans On It. Aris on her grown shit.

I feel like Ive tapped into self-love and like doing things that make me happy. Growing up, I always wanted to be that girl at school that dressed nice every day. But I just sometimes was too depressed to do so, or things like that, she said. She recalled an encounter on D.C.s U Street with a person she described as a clairvoyant who encouraged her to wear more dresses and gowns. She said it was something that stuck with her, especially when preparing for live shows.

Its just been exciting turning 30 and just really tapping into that sexiness, she said. Ive always been sexy, but I just always wanted to just be glamorous more often.

Ari, who celebrated her birthday in March, said that while 30 has been full of affirmation and self-love, theres also been low points. Her 19-year-old cousin, Houston R&B singer Jaelyn JaeRene Chapman, died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver in April. Ari dedicated her show that night to Chapman. She said her death has reshaped her outlook on life.

While shes been healing and dealing with lots of change over the past year and a half, Ari has been leaning into her truth more. Sometimes her truth comes out through her music, other times it appears on her refreshingly candid Instagram Live streams. Shes decided to pick her battles wisely and focus on things that bring her joy, including uplifting those who look like her.

She often makes it a point, during her shows and on social media, to celebrate Black features especially noses, lips and hair that are often deemed undesirable.

Thats sad how society can make us feel like less than. Thats just so fucking sad, she said. Because its just like, why is only a certain type of look celebrated more than another? I just dont know why its such a big deal. I dont know. I dont know what it is that scares people from Blackness.

black women are so fucking beautiful. Every hue, nose shape, body type, hair texture, where we come from, how we sound, how we rise, how we create and conquer. We are brilliant and resilient jewels on this earth.

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black women are so fucking beautiful. Every hue, nose shape, body type, hair texture, where we come from, how we sound, how we rise, how we create and conquer. We are brilliant and resilient jewels on this earth.
Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) June 15, 2021

Through her 2019 debut album, Shea Butter Baby, shes been able to hold space for that kind of celebration. The album takes the listener through 12 tracks that echo the experiences of Black women, from relationships and situationships to moving into a new apartment.

I wasnt chasing anything less than who I am, she said of making the album. I did want to create a space where Black women feel seen, feel heard or where they can just be free and be safe in it and work through their traumas and things like that. So yeah, thats why I want to really take my time with the second album because I dont want to just produce some weak ass, soulless shit.

Though she hasnt announced a date for her forthcoming album, she plans to continue to stay true to herself and her sound. She said shes felt pressure to make music thats of today, referring to whats trending.

I want to stay authentic to me. I want to keep neo-soul alive in my albums. I want to be as proud of my music as Im sure DAngelo was proud of his music and Erykah Badu and Tweet. They never folded. Ever. I want to just always neo-soul to the core, she said. I dont want to run from that, run from what inspired me to create that. So yeah, thats what I want to be able to say, like, Shes an authentic Black girl that never folded.