Ari Lennox is over it.
The Dreamville songstress says she’s done with music after losing at this weekend’s BET Soul Train Awards. Lennox was nominated for three awards including Best R&B/Soul Female Artist, Best Collaboration Performance, and Album/Mixtape of the Year for her critically-acclaimed debut Shea Butter Baby, but lost in all three categories.
After the “hard loss,” she took to Twitter to reflect. “I made a soul album for black people. I made my album for black people lol,” tweeted Lennox. “I just don’t understand. At all actually. But cool.”
Some took her comments as shade at Lizzo, who won Album/Mixtape of the Year for her album Cuz I Love You.
Lennox later explained why the loss was so hurtful. “It’s not just an award. It wasn’t any award show. It was the soul train awards. As you can see I’m big fan of soul music and huge fan of soul trains history.”
She added, “Being snubbed was something I always expected and was definitely prepared for just not by them.”
Lennox received backlash for her tweets, but she clarified that she was not trying to disrespect Lizzo. “My intent was to never shade other nominees. I’m hurt and I don’t expect soulless haters to understand that,” she explained. “Everytime I wrap my mind around it I just can’t accept it. It feels like a break up. I made a soulful album. I never ran from who I am. I just expected that one platform to understand that.”
Her frustrations have made her reconsider a career in music. “I’m not selling out. So I quit,” said Lennox, who said she’s going to join the army.
“Tired of being annoying tired of being annoyed. I just ain’t built like the rest of them. This shit ain’t for me,” she added. “It’s clear I’m not ‘cool’ enough. Not trendy enough and I don’t care to be. I don’t strive for that. I’m not going to chase this shit ever again. No more fake shit on my part.”
Read some of her tweets below.