![]() ![]() “At 44 minutes to 4 /An angel walked up to my door/Opened the windows to my soul/Told me he thinks I should know/That there’s no slowing down/As the globe spins ‘round and ‘round/You gotta keep going…”Īiko sets the pace for the album drawing inspiration from the two main positive forces in her life, her brother Miyagi and her daughter (“ This is for my brother/I do this for my daughter/That’s why I keep going…). Aiko uses these words as empowerment during her weakest moments. She dedicates this song to her late brother Miyagi, who died in 2012 from a form of incurable cancer-the title on an acronym for his favorite phrase (“Why aren’t you smiling?” – a joking sentiment he says to his Twitter followers while enduring chemotherapy). “W.A.Y.S.” makes reference to her single “3:16AM,” which Aiko believes is a time when she not only thinks more clearly, but when one can experience their deepest and darkest thoughts. She expands on these beliefs with the second track, “W.A.Y.S.”, complete with beat production that could mimic waves crashing from the ocean floor. sailing soul(s) and Sail Out series, but this album as well. Believing that the “wave” never dies, Aiko challenges the idea that birth and death, beginnings and endings, continue to “sail” and pull one into certain directions, which is not only a consistent motif in the. A strong believer in the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh’s lessons regarding the wave, Aiko plays with these notions of life being a journey (“…your whole life is on a ride”) full of various events that could hinder one’s growth and progression if one allows it. Conflicting binaries of physical relationships with the men in and out of her life, keeping true to philosophical and spiritual beliefs against homogenous thought, and the need for love, sometimes unrequited, all come into play throughout this album. Souled Out commences with the otherworldly “Limbo, Limbo, Limbo,” speaking of various binaries Aiko feels she can’t seem to figure through. Not only a culmination of years of struggle and maintaining honesty in her content, this concept album ends three years of starting a journey that details a “path” complete with trials that ultimately ends in positive enlightenment for the female protagonist. Released amongst great anticipation after fourteen years of sailing her soul amongst critics and naysayers, Aiko doesn’t disappoint with Souled Out. The seven-track offering, led by the singles “3:16AM” and “Bed Peace” featuring Childish Gambino (who also featured her on “Pink Toes” on his album Because the Internet), gave praise to Aiko’s fluttery vocal patterns, cupped with her free-style compositions and ethereal production, solidifying her stature as a bona fide lyricist. (VP of A&R at Def Jam) to his Artium Records imprint, she opted to release her first EP, Sail Out, continuing with the running theme of setting her soul to sail. Her wordplay set her apart from other new starlets breaking into the industry and landed her on tracks with upcoming artists such as TDE’s Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul (“Growing Apart (To Get Closer)”, “Fantasy”, and “Terrorist Threats” respectively), and Drake’s “From Time,” from his most recent release Nothing Was The Same.Īfter being signed by producer No I.D. Them” about her struggles in balancing personal relationships with fame. When told to “sell” herself as an artist, she creates her first mixtape in 2011, sailing soul(s), which achieved success with songs such as “Stranger” and “My Mine” about previous relationships, and “You vs. Jhené Aiko has a daughter and matures exponentially in her sound and outlook. Then, nothing but silence on sound waves, as Aiko decided to opt out of her contract and return to school.įast-forward to 2007. O.V.E.” (a slight re-interpretation of “Warning” by the late Notorious B.I.G.), as well as a few guest appearances on B2K’s video collection and discography. The year 2003 gave wings to her first major hit, “No L. Starting her career at the age of fourteen on Epic Records during the pandemonium associated with B2K, Immature, and her then relatively unknown older sisters, Mila J and Miyoko of the female girl group, Gyrl, Aiko has long since been a veteran of the music game. ![]() Formats: CD (Clean & Deluxe ed.), LP, MP3Īfter fourteen years of “wading,” Jhené Aiko (Efuru Chilombo) has finally Souled Out. ![]()
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