Ari Lennox

Courtney Shanade Salter, born March 26, 1991, also known professionally under the surname Ari Lennox, hails from Washington, D.C. and is the first female artist to sign with J. Cole's Dreamville Records label. On October 21, 2016, she released Pho Her debut EP under the Dreamville Records label. That was the day she first gained recognition. Shea Butter Baby is her debut album. The album was released in May 2019. Ari Lennox began uploading her music via the internet in 2012, as she released her debut mixtape, Five Finger Discount and debut EP Ariography in 2013. In 2014 she continued to release her music on the internet including her independently issued single Bound. In 2015, she appeared on Omen's Elephant Eyes Album in the track Sweat It Out on July 21. In the following year, her music began to circulate around the Dreamville group as J. Cole wanted her to collaborate with him for some references for Rihanna. The 8th of December was the day she revealed that she was contracted to Dreamville Records. Backseat was a track she sang alongside Cozz in the Revenge of the Dreamers II album that they co-produced. In October of 2016 she dropped her debut EP Pho. Ari Lennox later appeared on J. Cole's track Change and performed as an opener on the 4 Your Eyez Only Tour in 2017. In 2018 she went on to be a guest on two tracks with her label-mates EarthGang and EarthGang on Nothing but the Best and Bas on Icarus. On July 16 2018 Ari Lennox released the first single, Whipped Cream of her album debut Shea Butter Baby with an accompanied music video on September 5. The 9th of November saw her release two more singles called 40 Shades of Choke and Grampa. Then on November 13 two new singles called One and Pedigree. One and Pedigree. Later, she was featured as a guest on the Creed II soundtrack with Cole on a track titled Shea Butter Baby on November 16 and released as a single on February 26th, 2019 for her debut album the same title. The 20th of February, 2019, a music clip was released for the song. The track has received over three million hits on YouTube in its first week. She was the support act for 6LACK in their From East Atlanta With Love Tour in December of 2018.