It appears things arenβt going so smoothly for Americaβs favorite Shea Butter Baby, aka Ari Lennox, who recently revealed her desire to be dropped from her label following a recent podcast interview that went viral over the weekend.
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Complex reports that during her convo with South African podcaster MacG, Lennox was explicitly asked about her sex life and was visibly taken aback my MacG βs βcandorβ (read: gross AF way of asking.) Once the clip began circulating, Lennox took to social media to express how she felt about the situation in a series of since deleted tweets:
βIβm just likeβ¦why was I alone on a call full of people? Why didnβt anyone intervene?β And why wasnβt parts of the interview destroyed like the team promised? Why did it happen to begin with? I just feel slow and ambushed and blindsighted. Just because I happily and freely sing/write about sex donβt make any kind of creepy disrespect warranted. I clearly was in immense shock and hate that I didnβt react differently.β
After folks online began to question Lennoxβs reaction, citing the fact that she openly sings about sex in a lot of her music, the βPressureβ singer responded:
βI will continue to sing about dick when I want! And you misogynistic peasants can continue to jerk off to my music thank you!!!! Good morning.β
She further added, βI want to be dropped from the labels. Iβm done and tired. The interview was the icing on the cake. I want to be free. For Christ sakes. I realize I have no hits. I realize you all can live without hearing my music. I realize my complaining is so aggravating to yβall . I donβt ask blogs to post me when Iβm at my worst. You judgemental self hating parasites wouldnβt last a day as a signed artist. Complaining that Iβm complaining about the shit Iβm going through meanwhile in real life youβre just as unhappy just as fucked up. You crying in the car too. Somebody calling you insensitive and dramatic too. You could never be honest about your demons.β
Now look, I donβt know who needs to hear this but just because a womanβor any artist for that matterβdecides to sing, rap, write about sex: thatβs doesnβt give you the right to crassly inquire about their personal sex lives. What happened to decorum? What happened to couth? What happened to actually having music journalists ask questions to artists that actually matter instead of wannabe journalists and writers who are just looking for a viral moment to up their internet clout? However, sadly I canβt put all the blame on this podcaster. Lennoxβs team should have done a better job at 1) screening the types of interviewers/interviews she goes on and 2) making sure certain topics are off limits or at the very least, asked in such a way that donβt incite a clearly uncomfortable reaction for their artists.
Furthermore, Iβd also be remiss if I didnβt call out the fact that Lennox was getting more backlash for how she responded to something that she felt was disrespectful than the podcaster got for asking the inappropriate question in the first place. Society looooves to police Black women on everything from their hair and clothing to how they respond in various settings (looking at you especially, βangry Black woman trope.β) Lennox was right for labeling those criticizing her as misogynists because thatβs exactly what they are. Whenβs the last time a male rapper was asked about who theyβre sleeping with in that manner? They rap about women and sex all the time. So why arenβt they commonly asked about βwhoβs fucking them good?β Making music about a subject and wanting and choosing to divulge personal and private information about it as it pertains to your own life are two totally different things.
And before you hit me with the whole βbut sheβs an artist, artists sing about their personal and private lives all the timeβ excuse, I implore you to re-read that last sentence again and remember that not all artists write songs about things they personally are going through. Some are inspired by others stories (Jazmine Sullivanβs Heaux Tales immediately comes to mind) and some simply just donβt want to get into the details of their own personal goings and comings (no pun intended.)
The last thing Iβll say before I go is that itβs beyond time for society to stop labeling women who sing about sex or even those who freely talk about sex as βhoes,β βlooseβ or women worthy only of disrespect. That banal line of thinking derives straight from the ugly pits of respectability politics, sexism, and misogyny and itβs high time we abolish, defund and actually cancel it once and for all.
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