Vibing with this album always feels like I'm in a cotton candy daydream sequence, draped in pink cashmere, sipping chardonnay in a cloud of spice-tinged smoke. I'm in my own private lounge, and Miss Ari enters stage left, adorned in a white mink fur and endless pearls. She croons the blues front & center, yet her tone seems to fill the room from a faraway place. Her smooth, sticky-sweet voice envelops the space much like the imaginary smoke I'm surrounded by. And as moments pass, Ari sings on about the loneliness that settles in like an uninvited guest once the excitement of buying her new apartment wears off. Even if I don't feel like what she's singing in the moment, I FEEL what she's singing, all the time, if that makes sense. As I've told y'all before--- Ari can sing about bathwater and I'd be with it. But anyways...
My favorites from Shea Butter Baby are "Broke," "Up Late," "I Been," and "Whipped Cream" (if you know me, you know that "Whipped Cream" had a hold on me in 2019 😩). I sometimes add "Pop" to the list, depending on who I'm talking to. Either way, this album rides ALL THE WAY THROUGH for me and I never tire of it.
Are you an Ari Lennox fan?
What are your favorite songs from her?
And do you love Shea Butter Baby as much as I do?
