At the start of the summer, Ari Lennox blessed us with some new music with the release of her song "Bound." She’s then since released two more tracks, including the sublime Dave James duet "Whatever We Are," but Lennox returns the focus to "Bound" with a fresh set of visuals to accompany the track. The song, produced by James and Raphael Jason Zamora, depicts a feeling that we’ve all felt, the highs of being with a new lover and the lows when they’re not around.
The music video begins with Ari and her beau enjoying each other’s company on the perfect summer date outdoors with nature. When car trouble arises, they improvise and find an alternate way to continue the afternoon together. They hitch a ride with a stranger and then the video cuts to them embracing in front of a restaurant. The scene continues with them taking a stroll on the beach and happiness emits from the couple. Scenes of Ari alone are peppered throughout the clip and show a more vulnerable and emotional side to her.
Shortly after this music video was released, there was a minor controversy with a small number of Ari's followers objecting to the interracial romance depicted in the visuals. The rude comments almost led Lennox to take the video down and take a break from music, but her true blue fans stepped up to encourage the singer and she's since decided to keep it posted online and carry on with her career. It's unfortunate to think that this beautiful work of art almost suffered a loss and that in this day and age people still have an issue with interracial relationships given their prevalence. Had it not been for interracial love, many people wouldn't exist -- this writer included -- so it's good to see that Ari Lennox took a stand and kept these positive images online for the world to see.
