R&B singer Ari Lennox is not accepting compliments from fans if it means insulting another artist.
Over the weekend, a Twitter user was seemingly unhappy and even argued colorism after noticing Chlöe Bailey‘s new visual for her first single as a solo artist, “Have Mercy,” which attracted more online views than Ari’s latest single “Pressure.” Visuals for both tracks premiered on YouTube on Friday, Sept. 10. However, the online user was correct in that by 11 a.m. Monday Ari’s song had garnered some 1,470,000 views on YouTube since its release, compared against Chlöe’s creation, a Karena Evans-directed video that racked up some 8.6 million views over the same time frame.
“Chloe’s new video has over 5 million views while Ari Lennox, who has the better song and more tasteful video hasn’t event hit 1 million views yet,” the critic wrote in a post uploaded on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 11. While many assumptions could be made about why Chlöe’s song gained more attraction than Ari’s, including overall fan popularity or even connections in higher places in the music industry, @VocalistDDruns felt it had more to do with appearance.
“Chloe’s light skinned privilege is showing. Thank God she bussed it down, now she has the attention she’s been craving,” the user continued, taking yet another jab at Chlöe, who’s often been bullied online for being comfortable with her body image.
Ari quickly shut down the negative comment in a since-deleted post, imploring the user to “Please delete this hateful think piece.” She continued, “It’s negative and counterproductive and creating unnecessary backlash for both Black Women. Chloe and her music video are legendary and on REPEAT over here. Pressure is doing just fine.”
Several Twitter users also pointed out that Ari’s subject matter in “Pressure” wasn’t as innocent either, with lyrics like, “Keep me runnin’, leave it messy (Pressure). Go ahead and live in it, swim up in me (Oh, oh).” While others denounced the comparison and skin tone allegations, including YouTuber Kalen Allen, who wrote, “This is not true at all. Chloe’s song had so much built up anticipation. I love Ari’s new song. It just unfortunately got released at an inconvenient time.”
Another person commented, “Just delete it, you didn’t even make a point, you are just tweeting to tweet.” They added, “I bet you still think people are suppose to figure you out oppose to you being your genuine self and being accountable for your boundaries. See how that works…. Just delete it”
On Sunday, Chlöe appeared in her first solo performance at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards, which was presented by her sister and one half of the singing duo Chlöe X Halle, an appearance had many raving on social media.
