Ari Lennox's part in the Dreamville song "Self Love" are ones I find myself belting in the car, trigger fingers up at a red light while onlookers question if I've lost my mind: "Tied up in the moment/ I'm living without a purpose/ Wearing it on the surface, love/ Making it look good/ Meanwhile, it's been hurting, oh."
Phew! Our girl is on Twitter giving us more than a word about how important it is to take a step back and recharge when it comes to using your natural talents. Ari took Erykah Badu's advice about singing from her p*ssy and gave us fans enough content to call her one of our favorite new Grammy-nominated artists. However, Ari is evolving to a point where writing about love and sex a majority of the time no longer fulfills her. She calls it writer's block, but from where I'm standing, it looks a lot like growing pains and fatigue. She shared on her personal Twitter account:
"I've always created music about guys. Not really fond of that anymore. I don't really know what else to write about...I can't force something that means the world to me."
I can't force something that means the world to me
— Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) November 28, 2020
Well, the most crucial factor about creativity that many experienced artists will attest to is that: When you do not feel like creating is when you really need to create the most. Not for the consumption of others, but just to keep your creativity flowing the way you would clean out a water pipe. Water that sits for too long stinks and the same concept applies to creative energy, especially writing that serves as a form of catharsis.
Other artists like Rihanna, Beyonce, Eve, and countless others are being transparent enough to let us in on their secret of slowing down, redirecting their creative energy into something that they enjoy and are able to profit from, and then returning back to the demands of the music industry on their terms.
I'm very happy. I just don't got nothing say in song
— Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) November 28, 2020
It takes some big d*ck/powerful p*ssy energy to look bags of money in the face and choose your integrity and peace of mind instead. Fellow artistic OG Missy Elliott weighed in with her own experience and affirmation:
"As a writer myself many may not understand what it takes writing a song... I always say your mind is like a computer it [has] to refresh, if not it will crash. So you trust when you are ready so you can continue to give Quality over Quantity."
Missy is a veteran in playing peek-a-boo with us fans and releasing music but it's hard to complain because when she resurfaces, she does not come to play. Excellence no matter how slow of a start, or how new her sound is has become an expectation, and that is a beautiful standard to hold oneself to.
So long story short I don't see me releasing an album for like years
— Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) November 28, 2020
So without further ado, a huge congratulations to Ari and any other woman who is able to identify parts of their lives that may look pretty good from the outside looking in but they ultimately decide to honor their own feelings and retreat to recalibrate. A break is often necessary and is not to be reserved only for those on the verge of a breakdown.
A break is often needed before a major breakthrough.
Are you a member of our insiders squad? Join us in the xoTribe Members Community today!
Featured image by Giphy