March 15, 2023
“Can I talk my shit, Minneapolis?” singer-songwriter Ari Lennox asked a packed Tuesday night crowd at the Fillmore. A resounding cheer went up, and Lennox beamed, launching into “I Been,” an excellent cut from her 2019 debut LP, Shea Butter Baby.
Lennox herself is a controlled, level-headed performer. Making little use of chit-chat between songs, the DC native hurdled through her 90-odd-minute setlist with ease. With precise posturing, clean vocal runs, and a smaller stage, this night centered around Ari and her fans, who screamed their way through the hits and deep cuts alike. Even better live, personal favorites “Hoodie” and “Whipped Cream” were all the more amplified by a live band and a crowd call-and-response.
“She’s for the girls,” concertgoers behind me noted midway through the show, and it rings true — Lennox is backed by an all-woman band, and she pulled in some powerful female openers, including “Stop By” and “Pressure” co-writer Jai’Len Josey, who graced the crowd with energetic cuts from her 2020 EP, Illustrations. R&B musician Alex Vaughn followed shortly after, nonchalant tracks “ISH” and “Demon Time” showcasing her keen vocal control and engaging lyricism.
In several interviews, Lennox has detailed being at odds with her label owner and executive producer J. Cole, particularly on tracks that speak to the female experience. “I had to tell [J. Cole], ‘Look these songs aren’t for you.’ [They’re] for women,” Lennox recalled in a 2019 conversation with GQ. “I felt like he couldn’t understand why I love ‘New Apartment’ so much, and I think he was, as a producer, focused on the beat not being as perfect as ‘Whipped Cream.’ It’s just a different vibe. And what’s most important about ‘New Apartment’ is the message. I just wanted to talk about achieving that dream. I never thought I’d be able to afford an apartment.”
In perhaps a moment of karmic retribution, Lennox’s bass-heavy rendition of “New Apartment” on Tuesday garnered the night’s most ear-splitting cheers, the crowd reaching decibels previously unheard with the chorus, “Walk around this bitch naked/And nobody can tell me shit.”
With Lennox, the personal is inextricable from the professional. Her latest record, age/sex/location (2022), grapples with the ever-topical notion of self-love, translating seemingly obvious truths into startling revelations: “There’s something I am sure of/I deserve something purer/My love is a privilege.” The audience last night clearly resonated with the message — one audience member shouted, “I know that’s right!”
Much of the record, and by extension, last night’s show, also reflects on the dissonance between the internal and external self. In an Instagram statement released before the album rollout, Lennox noted, “[I’m] in a transitional space… [I used to feel] very vulnerable and codependent and validation seeking … I remember the countless times I was kicked out of dating apps because they didn’t think I was really myself, it reminded me of those age/sex/location days where I actually wasn’t being myself in those [AIM] chatrooms.”
Though this is purportedly Lennox’s last tour, as I walked home with “Unloyal” rattling around in my head, I resolved to see her live at least one more time again. “Who’s going through a journey right now?” Lennox had asked our audience, and it was impossible not to respond in kind, impossible not to dance along to Lennox’s chant, “Giving the girls Diana Ross/Walkin' around like I’m the boss.” To know your fears and passions were echoed by the singer before you, to know the crowd surrounding you also deeply related to Lennox, was such a special experience, and all the more reason to lose yourself in the music.
