Ari Lennox caught up with Billboard for the latest installment of the “You Should Know” video series, during which she revealed how she first got into writing music, which musical acts have influenced her the most, and the inspiration behind her song “Whipped Cream.”
Lennox tells Billboard that she was born in Washington, D.C. but grew up in the “DMV area,” having moved around between Fort Washington, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Bowie, Maryland.
The singer-songwriter says that she began writing music at the age of three, recalling that she would sit under the porch at her grandmother’s house in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I started recording maybe in seventh grade with a guy named James Daniels,” she adds. “I sounded a hot mess but, you know, I got better.”
As for which artists have helped shape her sound, Lennox admits that it’s a “big mix,” naming Minnie Riperton, Juvenile, Omarion, Ciara, and Red Hot Chili Peppers as some key inspirations.
In the interview, Lennox also reminisces about her first ever live performance, which took place when she was in elementary school. Singing Mariah Carey’s “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” Lennox had her eyes closed the entire time.
“But when I opened them, there was this lady in the front with her hands over her ears,” she says with a laugh. “And I realized, okay, I have a lot of work to do, but I’ma keep going.”
Asked if a movie were to ever be made about her, Lennox shares that she would want her dog Galactus to play her. “I feel like he knows me the best,” she explains. “I feel like he really understands me, so I think he’d do a great job!”
Lennox also opens up about her track “Whipped Cream,” stating that it is about experiencing heartbreak and coping with it through sugar. “Which I still do, every day,” she adds.
You can check out the full video interview with Ari Lennox above, and listen to “Whipped Cream” below.