Ari Lennox

CL Critic Matthew Warhol Recommends  Ari Lennox is currently one of my favorite artists, across genres. Her soulful voice matches the emotion and strength of some of the greatest soul singers from the 60s and 70s. Her songs would fit perfectly in those decades, but also sounds like it could only exist at the current time. Topics include hookup culture, online dating, self-love, and religion. Her second full-length album, released in September of last year, is age/sex/location. It is a remarkable project in the same vein as 2019’s Shea Butter Baby, a bonafide classic and one of my favorite R&B albums of all time. She doesn’t try to fix what’s not broken. Music like hers has worked for well over 50 years, and she’s not about to change the formula to hop on some fleeting trend. — MW

CL Critic Joshua Robinson Recommends: Ari Lennox’s sophomore album, age/sex/location, was propelled by her groovy, Jermaine Dupri-produced single “Pressure,” and one of the song’s writers was Atlanta’s own Jai’Len Josey. Following the gold-certified single’s success, Ari Lennox has returned the favor to Josey by tapping her for opening support on the age/sex/location Tour this spring. The North American trek marks the first tour of Jai’Len Josey’s promising career, so make sure to pop out for the rising ​​Hillman Grad and Def Jam signee’s homecoming show at the end of the month. — JR