Top 44 Ari Lennox Quotes

Grandma Holly told me at three years old that I had a voice of an angel, and I just never stopped singing.

Howard University – HoChi – they make the best Philly cheesesteak I’ve ever had – way better than Philly.

I’d be at these different clubs passing out my business cards and fliers. Then the club would end, the light would come on and all my business cards would be on the floor.

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities in the entire world.

I’m so thankful for ‘Backseat’ because it’s doing so much. It’s almost at two million listens on Spotify. It’s changed my life. It was the song that Dreamville really pushed and they just really made it explode, and I’m just so thankful.

My dad would always play Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Anita Baker, so I fell in love with them. I would try to make my voice sound like theirs.

My best writing is not outside of the beat. I’m 99 percent influenced by the beat first, and then the words just flow.

You know, sometimes people recognize me, sometimes they don’t.

My life would’ve been so different if my parents listened to Korn. That would’ve been fire!

When it comes to creativity, or my artistry, when it comes to how I wear my hair and what I’m dressing like, some things I’m going to fight for; and it’s really about picking the battles, but usually I’m not backing down.

I don’t know why God has been blessing me to make it look like I’m fit. I haven’t worked out in months.

I always imagined having so much energy on stage, versus me being somewhat chill, soulful R&B.

Yeah, the first contract I signed, that was the first time I realized, Oh man, never mind, I don’t want to do this anymore, but it was too late. I realized it was a bad thing because I wanted to try out for ‘American Idol’ and all these different things couldn’t do that because I was in this contract.

Artists tend to get this thing called demo-itis, and I’m extremely guilty of that.

There are a lot of incredible producers out there. But that doesn’t mean when you get in the studio that the vibe is right and that it’s a fun experience, and you can trust people, and just have a good time.

You know, sometimes people recognize me, sometimes they don’t.

I came across this guy named DJ Grumble and I just really liked his beats because they were different. I felt like they spoke to me.

I was scared of planes and then also just got this job. It was $10 an hour. To me, that was way more important than meeting J. Cole.

It’s just really hard to commit to clean eating, and then sometimes you don’t want to eat cold salads. Sometimes you want that warm comfort food.

Howard University – HoChi – they make the best Philly cheesesteak I’ve ever had – way better than Philly.

I remember watching `Apollo’ with my other grandma – I have so many grandmas – and seeing these young girls sing… I knew in that moment that I wanted to sing.

My favorite style inspirations are between Rihanna and Diana Ross.

I really think only Erykah Badu can be Erykah Badu.

But yeah, so many people are just not very genuine online. I caught myself looking for my ex, and a lot of these people that I would swipe right on, I’m meeting them in real life and they’re just not that guy at all.

I started gravitating towards Soundcloud. So, that was my hustle and then I met my manager Justin in 2012 and we were just grinding it out in New York.

Yeah, I believe in all the wild, witchcraft stuff. I don’t like to dabble in that, but I believe they all know something.

The world likes trap and EDM unless it’s a fire melody.

I just was always singing. I didn’t know if it was good or not, but my grandma, she told me that I sounded like an angel.

You just want fame so bad. You want success so bad. You just believe anybody who conjures up a pretty contract and they’re telling you all these sweet nothings I guess.

My best writing is not outside of the beat. I’m 99 percent influenced by the beat first, and then the words just flow.

I remember watching `Apollo’ with my other grandma – I have so many grandmas – and seeing these young girls sing… I knew in that moment that I wanted to sing.

I knew I wanted to sing and maybe I had a chance at it, so I just started recording myself maybe five or six times a week and putting them on YouTube as much as I could with hopes that someone would recognize me.

It’s just really hard to commit to clean eating, and then sometimes you don’t want to eat cold salads. Sometimes you want that warm comfort food.

At the end of the day, I was getting really close to quitting. I was starting to accept that maybe I’m just going to be a SoundCloud singer, and that’s when Dreamville came and saved me.

When it comes to creativity, or my artistry, when it comes to how I wear my hair and what I’m dressing like, some things I’m going to fight for; and it’s really about picking the battles, but usually I’m not backing down.

I started gravitating towards Soundcloud. So, that was my hustle and then I met my manager Justin in 2012 and we were just grinding it out in New York.

I’m always going to take an experience and a fire beat and marry it all together with adult melodies. I try to paint, just like Frank Ocean paints with his lyrics. I try in similar ways to paint my life into these songs.

But yeah, YouTube started for me straight out of high school, so 2009, because everyone was going to college except me.

I’m hoping to bring some raunchy, risky, soulful frankness to the stage, really.

I just feel Black women, we get slept on a lot and people don’t recognize our greatness in our curls and in chocolate skin.

Academically I was never that great and I was not really into school. I don’t know, I just really had a problem focusing but singing always came naturally.

I never had an apartment before, so just finally having my own place. And it was magical. It was gorgeous – beautiful tub. I never could use the tub because I was afraid of the roaches.

Something about Mariah Carey’s songs really had me wanting to sing high like her.

I’d be at these different clubs passing out my business cards and fliers. Then the club would end, the light would come on and all my business cards would be on the floor.