Ari Lennox felt her share of wrath from tough crowds during her run on Rod Wave's last tour. Now she's calling out the Florida rapper out for not coming to her defense.
The Dreamville crooner took to her Instagram Stories on Sunday, May 5, and posted a lengthy reflection of her experiences on stage during Rod Wave's "Nostalgia Tour" last year. In it, she criticized the "Tombstone" artist for declining to defend her against his "evil, racist and demonic fans." Lennox claimed Rod didn't say anything about her experiences in private or publicly during the 35-city tour.
“Flo Milli I’m sorry this happened to you,” she wrote in her first post. “You are a beautiful and incredibly talented woman. Some of these people can be so damn cruel.”
“Maybe I could’ve gotten over some of Rod Wave’s evil, racist and demonic fans, but what made it even worse is Rod saying nothing in my defense. Privately or publicly,” she continued in another post. “The only reason we met was because we ran into each in a Hotel Lobby after constant efforts of me trying to share my gratefulness for the opportunity.
“I never had issues with fans being violent or evil towards me while opening up for legendary singers and legendary hip hop acts," she continued. "Those were some of the best tours of my life and really taught me how to sing better. I’m use[d] to men rarely defending me publicly, but it was a triggering experiencing nonetheless.”
Ari Lennox's rant in response to Flo Milli's recent experience while she opened up for Gunna during his "Bittersweet Tour." In a video that went viral over the weekend, you can see the "Never Lose Me" rapper blow up and storm off stage after a fan threw a shoe at her. The "Shea Butter Baby" artist had a similar experience during Rod's tour. Lennox had a heated exchange with the crowd after someone threw a water bottle at her.
“To protect my peace I will never open up for a soul again," Lennox said. "STOP disrespecting openers. STOP creating excuses as to why these openers get violated on stage ‘maybe she shouldn’t have been on that tour’? This makes the disrespect and violence to Black women valid? Headliners, protect your openers.”
See the footage from Flo Milli's set below.