Just in time for her tour to begin, Ari Lennox releases her anticipated Shea Butter Baby debut album. The Dreamville artist made waves with her J. Cole-assisted single of the same name, and now she's hoping to take the world by storm. The singer delivers a soulful record that reminiscent of Erykah Badu and Jill Scott classics of the past, but the Washington, D.C. songwriter creates an on-fire neo-soul sound of her own that breathes life into R&B.
Shea Butter Baby is as smooth as its title, and J. Cole and J.I.D make guest appearances to add their flavor to her mix. Lennox continues to solidify herself as "one to watch" by living up to the hype, and the talented artist revealed to Billboard last year that before singing to J. Cole's Dreamville Records, she wasn't sure that he even liked her music. "I didn’t really think Cole was into me," Lennox stated. "He was cool, but he was talking about Earthgang the whole time."
"'Cause Earthgang is probably one of the most brilliant groups out, so I was definitely honored to be learning about them through Cole, but I was jealous," she admitted. "I was like, ‘Damn, he loves them! I wish he would love me like that. Damn the shade.’ But it wasn’t like that all, Cole is just hard to read sometimes."
Tracklist
1. Chicago Boy
2. BMO
3. Broke ft. J.I.D.
4. Up Late
5. Shea Butter Baby ft. J. Cole
6. Speak To Me
7. New Apartment
8. Facetime
9. Pop
10. I Been
11. Whipped Cream
12. Static