Ari Lennox

Since 2015, Ari Lennox has functioned as the lone R&B presence on J. Cole's Dreamville roster, delivering candid songwriting and a restrained vocal presence while naming Minnie Riperton and Mýa among her chief influences. Her first commercial release arrived on the label in 2016 via the Pho EP, after which her debut full-length Shea Butter Baby landed in 2019 and peaked at number seven on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart. She also contributed to Dreamville's Grammy-nominated Revenge of the Dreamers III compilation and released a remix EP before "Pressure" reached number one on the Adult R&B Songs chart and ushered in her second album, age/sex/location, in 2022.

Born Courtney Shanade Salter in Washington, D.C., she began circulating music in the first half of the 2010s through the Five Finger Discount mixtape, the Ariography EP, and cuts such as "Bound," all posted online between 2012 and 2014. An association with the Interscope-affiliated Dreamville imprint started in 2015 when she appeared on Omen's "Sweat It Out" and was featured on the Revenge of the Dreamers II standout "Backseat." Dreamville then put out the Pho EP the following October; it debuted at number 40 on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart and was led by her Hollywood JB collaboration "Night Drive." She supplied backing vocals to Cole's chart-topping 4 Your Eyez Only and supported the rapper on his lengthy 2017 tour promoting that project.

During 2018 she appeared on tracks by Dreamville labelmates Bas and Masego, issued several independent songs, and joined Cole on the Mike WiLL Made-It-produced "Shea Butter Baby" for the Creed II soundtrack; that recording later supplied the title track for her first album. Issued in May 2019, Shea Butter Baby climbed to number seven on the Top R&B Albums chart and number 67 on the Billboard 200 while its title song also registered on Adult R&B Songs. Her profile rose further through another contribution to the Grammy-nominated Revenge of the Dreamers III. The Shea Butter Baby (Remix EP) followed in March 2020, and additional singles charted across the remainder of that year and into 2021, with "Pressure" hitting number one on Adult R&B Songs. Tracks including the slow jam "Hoodie" and the Summer Walker collaboration "Queen Space" paved the way for age/sex/location, which appeared in September 2022 and reached number 60 on the Billboard 200 and number 13 on the R&B Albums chart. In 2023 Lennox issued "Get Close" and "My Phone Can Die," the latter a collaboration with James Fauntleroy.