Ari Lennox, born Courtney Shanade Salter on March 26, 1991, is an American R&B singer-songwriter hailing from Washington, D.C. She gained prominence after signing with J. Cole's Dreamville Records in 2015, becoming the label's first female artist. Her second EP, Pho, released in 2016, marked her major label debut and helped solidify her status in the industry. Ari Lennox's full-length album, Shea Butter Baby, released in 2019, received critical acclaim and commercial success. She contributed to Dreamville's compilation albums, including Revenge of the Dreamers III, which topped the Billboard 200 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Her 2021 single "Pressure" marked her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by her second studio album, Age/Sex/Location, in 2022.
