Ari Lennox took to Instagram to tell the world how she really feels about being in the public eye. As Ari began growing a larger and larger following following the release of her debut album, Shea Butter Baby, last year, she became known for her outspokenness on platforms like Instagram live. The singer has gained a reputation for being unapologetically honest and has received her fair share of backlash for some controversial statements as a result. On Wednesday, she decided to pen a lengthy message in a post featuring a photo of herself as a young girl to outline the key problems with being a celebrity.

“Man I wish I could start over,” she began. “Go back to this girl. Wish I never showed the world my personality. Wish I never did an ig live. Wish I wasn’t so naive. Wish I never loved as hard as I do. Wish I was smarter. Honestly wish this was a world where you could be free and not judged. Where you could speak your mind and people understand context without tearing down people.”

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“Me opening up myself to the world has only damaged my career,” she continued, “but realistically how many people really vouching for soul in mainstream? I felt my personality helped but it hasn’t. I literally can’t be a carefree woman. I have to live a lie because people are so judgmental and self righteous. Like even if I was insecure that makes people feel good stating that aloud? Even if I was all these things what’s the point in going out your way to say it? If I never returned to social media could it really erase everything’s happened? No. But I’m going to try.”

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“I really just want things to be about the music,” Ari concluded. “If I’m going to be this imperfect woman, I need to be it off the grid. You think priding yourself on my weakness makes you so righteous? It’s wild crazy. B*tches can’t even be carefree. People think the industry is the worst part of being successful, no it’s the people judging your every move.” While it’s unclear whether Ari will be taking a social media hiatus or not, she definitely seems to be fed up with all the scrutiny she’s faced since becoming famous.

Dwight Howard was considered down and out by many pundits. This season, Howard has been able to prove everyone wrong and has had a huge career resurgence. The man has hit two three-pointers this season and is looking like an absolute stud on defense. If you're a Lakers fan, you have to be happy to have Howard back on your team, especially now that he's settled into his role pretty well perfectly. 

This past week, Howard had his contract guaranteed by the Lakers and last night, he hit a three-pointer which is a rarity. Afterward, Howard spoke about how much this season has meant to him and what he's trying to accomplish with the team, moving forward.

In 2014, Young M.A‘s “ChiRaq” freestyle allowed her to become one of the most coveted lyricists of her class. Two years later, the Brooklyn emcee found commercial success with her hit single “Ooouuu” which found its way to the Billboard Hot 100 Chart peaking at the number nineteen slot. However, with so much so commercial success early in her career, Young M.A struggled to regain the traction she had gained from the highly-popularized bar-driven track. 

Recently, the “PettyWap” rapper took her talents to SiriusXM’s Hip-Hop Nation radio show to briefly discuss how the success of “Ooouuu” tainted her creative process and how she was able to remain resilient while critics patiently waited for her resurgence. Young M.A stated the following response to her early achievements in the industry:

“You know you’re human. This is the first time scene, fame is hitting you crazy, you gotta big record… This is all new to me and surreal at the same time, you know? You get left in a position where it’s like, ‘oh, this is the formula, this is what I’m supposed to do!’ You get caught up in that mind frame. That’s where I had to like discipline myself in a way and challenge myself to get out of that zone and go back to what I did before the hit. You know what I mean being in a creative zone and making music for myself. Not just what people want to hear.”

Young M.A also spoke her drastic lifestyle change in regards to her health and influence over the youth which eventually led to her rebranding her image. With the success of her debut album, Herstory in the Making (2019), the New York emcee has single-handedly proven she’s worthy of her own lane in the hip-hop realm. Check out the full clip from Young M.A’s SiriusXM interview in the video provided below.