The First Lady of Dreamville Records blessed NPR on Wednesday by taking her turn on their "Tiny Desk" series. Last week, the Washington, D.C. singer reportedly shared on Twitter that she was taking a break from performing live. "After this year I’ll continue to drop music. But I’m not performing anymore outside of ig live or YouTube," she wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "God is good. I will pay back what was offered to me but literally I’m too thorough to be playing with my energy. People don’t know what happens behind the scenes."
The Shea Butter Baby artist is a rising star in both hip hop and R&B circles, so it would be a disappointment to her fans if she retreated from taking to the stage. However, Ari's admirers were happy to see her link up with NPR to perform a handful of her songs including "Speak To Me," "Pop," "New Apartment," and "Shea Butter Baby."
The singer told NPR that throughout her life, she's felt that she's always been at a slight disadvantage. "I always wanted to solo at the church and they didn't ever give it to me. But eventually they did and I froze. But then I killed it," she explained. "I just feel like that kind of just followed me all throughout my life. I've always kind of been slept on a bit." Check out Ari Lennox's "Tiny Desk" performance below.