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Ari Lennox Says She Was "Never Comfortable" While Opening Up For Rod Wave's Tour
Ari Lennox recently spoke out about her challenging experiences while on the road with Rod Wave.
In an emotional Instagram Live session on Sunday (Jan. 7), the Dreamville singer revealed her discomfort and alienation during the trek. It wasn’t influenced by Wave but rather by his audience. She explained, “I was never comfortable. I just remember every show, just racing to get off stage, racing to get through my set.”
Lennox’s problems stemmed from negative interactions with attendees. She further recounted attempts to connect with the concertgoers and the backlash she faced. The “Shea Butter Baby” hitmaker shared, “I started trying to communicate with the audience, and then I realized they were getting angry at me affirming them. This is not my crowd, and it’ll never be. And that’s alright.”
The tour was particularly difficult for Lennox, especially during a Los Angeles show, where she was nearly hit by a bottle thrown while on stage. As Rap-Up reported in November 2023, she angrily addressed the crowd before challenging the assailant.
“Don’t you ever disrespect a beautiful Black woman on the stage like that! I’ma f**king f**k you up. That’s the f**k right. Who did it, b**ch?” she asked. “That’s right, you could never even be as good as a p**sy. That’s right, b**ch. You’re dumb. You’re weak.”
Wave’s “Nostalgia Tour” began in October 2023. It featured opening acts like Toosii, Eelmatic and G Herbo. The voyage made a whopping 30 stops in cities including Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Brooklyn and Charlotte.
Elsewhere in her Instagram Live, Lennox described the trek as “a very hard two and a half f**king months. Very lonely, too.” She expressed frustration at being disrespected and heckled, which made her question the compatibility of her music with certain types of audiences.
Her sentiment echoed similar experiences shared by artists like Rico Nasty, who was booed during her time opening up for Playboi Carti’s “Narcissist Tour” in 2021.