Babyface found his perfect sensual collaborative partner in Ari Lennox. Their latest single, “Liquor,” and accompanying music video directed by Jean Esten, is a match made in R&B heaven. The track featured on the legendary producer and songwriter’s compilation album, Girls Night Out, which was released in October 2021, is the perfect bridge between Lennox’s rising star power and Babyface’s veteranism.
On the song, Lennox puts her signature vocals on full display as the pair serenade one another. However, in the official video, instead of exploring this chemistry further, Lennox, in the role of lounge singer at the one and only The Peppermint Club in West Hollywood (not to be confused with the iconic Peppermint Lounge), an entranced patron of the establishment falls deep into Lennox’s web of lust as Babyface assists in the background of the sole bartender.
When asked about Lennox’s talent by media personality Angela on her podcast Lip Service, Babyface said, “I think that Ari’s voice is a voice that she can sing about many things that matter to a lot of people. Her voice is an important voice, and I think that it’s just the beginning for her.”
“Liquor” is filled with clever adult beverage puns that effortless role of the tongue of Lennox as she sings, “Two shots of liquor, no chaser / No rocks, no blend, straight up, just you / Two shots of liquor, oh, oh / I need one hundred from my man, he can’t be eighty proof / When he ask me throw it back, I tell him absolut-ely.”
If you’re going to be drunk in love, then who better to stumble for than Ari Lennox or the King of R&B, Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds?
Watch the full video above.