Ari Lennox previously expressed her desire to part ways with J. Cole’s label, Dreamville, a couple of years back, and she’s reiterating that sentiment once more.
The artist has vocally criticized executives from both Dreamville and Interscope Records for releasing a music video for her track “Smoke” contrary to her preferences.
Ari mentioned that the video, filmed in a mental health facility, portrays her as a symbol of mental wellness, a role she does not wish to embody.
“Interscope and Dreamville have been stringing me along all month, and I’m completely drained,” she shared on Instagram. “I’m fed up with people acting as if they pity me and trying to make me the representative of mental health. I’m fine and I’ve never been more content. What I dislike is being signed to a label, only to be deceived and manipulated. No one at those companies has ever understood how to promote or safeguard me. You guys don’t even know the half of it. Endless disappointments and neglect. This whole industry thing may never be for me.”
Ari also shared a video expressing her frustration about trying to meet the expectations of her labels, only to feel undervalued.
“It’s unacceptable, so I simply want to be freed from my contract, and it’s really that straightforward. This is my breaking point,” she stated. “The individuals responsible for the video were unresponsive, yet everyone praised the visuals, which is why the video remains up… I wish I had a label that wouldn’t leave me in a position where I have to justify my need for promotion for my music. You can’t expect an artist to thrive without marketing; that’s just a fact. Why am I pleading for promotion? Why am I footing the bill for my own Google ads?”