Ari Lennox

I was scared of planes and then also just got this job. It was $10 an hour. To me, that was way more important than meeting J. Cole.

I never had an apartment before, so just finally having my own place. And it was magical. It was gorgeous - beautiful tub. I never could use the tub because I was afraid of the roaches.

And I always was getting fired and quitting jobs, so I was not going to ruin Public Storage, and I was excited about Public Storage because I knew eventually I could be one of those property manager people that had their own apartment on site. So I had these big dreams for Public Storage.

I knew I wanted to sing and maybe I had a chance at it, so I just started recording myself maybe five or six times a week and putting them on YouTube as much as I could with hopes that someone would recognize me.

I came across this guy named DJ Grumble and I just really liked his beats because they were different. I felt like they spoke to me.

People will appreciate who you are when you're naturally being who you are.

I just was always singing. I didn't know if it was good or not, but my grandma, she told me that I sounded like an angel.

I always imagined having so much energy on stage, versus me being somewhat chill, soulful R&B.

Grandma Holly told me at three years old that I had a voice of an angel, and I just never stopped singing.

I really think only Erykah Badu can be Erykah Badu.

My dad would always play Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Anita Baker, so I fell in love with them. I would try to make my voice sound like theirs.

Like, even going to Duke Ellington School of the Arts, like, they slept on me. I think they thought I was talented, but for whatever reason, they didn't want to give me a lot of solos or any type of just love like that. But I don't know. I think that's what encouraged me to grind so hard.