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Ari Lennox made a major splash when she signed to Dreamville in 2015. Tracks like Backseat, and Shea Butter Baby, which were featured in the hit film series, Creed, made her a recognizable name in the industry. And she was painted by many to be the next neo-soul sensation.
Lennox Gets Honest About Split From Dreamville
However, Interscope and Dreamville never capitalized on that momentum. And in an October 2024 social media post, Lennox accused the labels of being manipulative and claimed they did not know how to market her. This ultimately led to her departing from the label in 2025.
However, despite the split, things appear to remain amicable between Lennox and Dreamville. During a recent interview on The Breakfast Club, the singer praised the label for being supportive of her. And expressed how big a part they played in her career trajectory.
“I do feel like they supported me overall,” she said. “Like, I don’t believe that I would’ve gotten this far without them.”
Lennox also gave a special acknowledgement to J.Cole. Noting that he “changed [her] life.”
“J. Cole was the greatest co-sign I could’ve ever had,” she added. “As a neo-soul artist, people sleep on our genre… So, he changed my life and introduced me to people that probably might not have received me the same if they heard me outside of his camp.”
🚨 Ari Lennox opens up about how she felt when it was time to leave Dreamville, but she’s extremely aware of her appreciation for J. Cole and publicly apologizes for how she handled the business separation.
— The Breakfast Club (@breakfastclubam) March 6, 2026
"I will always love and respect him' pic.twitter.com/CsFE4liE1m
In February, J. Cole dropped his seventh studio album, The Fall Off. As part of the rollout for his new project, Cole hosted an AMA on social and was asked about the future of Dreamville. In his response, Cole expressed uncertainty about what the future looks like for the label. But one thing that he is certain of is that he will not be signing any new artists.
“We don’t have the emotional bandwidth for signing more artists with that approach,” he said. “But maybe there is another approach that we can figure out in the future where we can still provide value to artists and to the world under the Dreamville flag. We’re just not there right now.”
