Ari Lennox’s debut album, Shea Butter Baby, is scheduled to arrive as early as the first week of May.
The singer shared the news bomb on Twitter on Friday after announcing that Baby Rose, Mikhala Jené, and Ron Gilmore will join her on her first-ever headlining tour this summer.
While Lennox didn’t go into much detail about the LP on social media, her longtime manager Justin LaMott spoke to Billboard about her forthcoming release. He noted the delay of her first album is tactical, especially since her J. Cole-assisted title track took almost six months to garner buzz on radio.
In February, Lennox mentioned that Shea Butter Baby will contain 13 tracks and will possibly receive deluxe edition treatment. The disc may also have a duet with Tank, who accepted her feature request over social media.
As of right now, it has not been determined if Lennox’s debut album will include her thread of 2018 tracks – “No One,” “Grampa,” and “Whipped Cream.” However, Lennox did reveal to Billboard that “a lot of these songs I’ve been holding on to for a long time. I just want the world to hear them. And then, finally, I can exhale.”
Album drops first week of May.
— Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) April 12, 2019