Off a recommendation from Revolt on-air personality Jinx, I went to check out Dreamville artist Ari Lennox’s new album Shea Butter Baby. He said it was “crack,” and I don’t take those types of recos lightly from people I respect.
He was right.
Though I thought the album overall was really great, I quickly gravitated towards two songs in particular that were more my speed of R&B, “Up Late” and “I Been.” Check out a soulful live performance of “Up Late” above with a guest spot by its co-producer Masego on the sax. And below is the audio for “I Been,” which is super-duper fire and showcases Ari’s vocal abilities in a major way. Can’t stop watching/listening to these two songs, they’ve been on repeat since I first heard them. This woman is a natural, and these songs are giving me ’90s D’Angelo, Mary J. Blige and Erykah Badu vibes.
Here’s some unreleased Roc Marciano via his Record Store Day release The Prequel, which also features a collection of his Soundcloud gems. Props to Unkut for the upload.