The 1A Record Club: Ari Lennox and modern R&B

Earlier this year, Sean “Diddy” Combs made headlines for saying R&B is dead.

Diddy’s sentiment isn’t new. Lamenting the death of R&B has become a meme at this point – something said by those in the industry and fans alike. But despite pop and hip-hop dominating the charts, R&B is kept alive by artists like Jasmine Sullivan, Summer Walker, and Brent Faiyaz.

And one of the genre’s biggest stars is Ari Lennox, a 31-year-old D.C. native signed to rapper J. Cole’s Dreamville record label. Her latest album is called “age/sex/location,” and she’s been compared to R&B divas like Erykah Badu and Mariah Carey.