Singer Jhené Aiko debuts with new EP

 At the age of 25, singer Jhené Aiko has been in the music industry for over a decade. If you were a fan of the R&B boy band B2K back in the day, you might remember seeing her in their videos and hearing her backup vocals on their songs.

 Now she has stepped into the spotlight with the release of her new EP entitled “Sail Out.”

 Her first attempt to make it big in the industry was when she was 12-years-old; she signed to a label that wanted to turn her into yet another pop star, but Aiko wanted to write her own songs and create her own image, so she asked to break out of her contract with Epic Records. 

This is the underlying reason why her works are titled the way they are. Sailing Soul(s), her first mixtape, Sail Out and her unreleased debut album, Souled Out, which is set for release in 2014, all have the theme of staying true to herself and her craft and thus would rather be souled out than a sellout.

 The EP is a mix of seven songs that Aiko described as her different moods during an interview with Rap Radar’s Elliot Wilson, moods that include the influences of love, personal tragedy and marijuana.  

Marijuana talk in the world of hip-hop and R&B is definitely not a foreign concept, but the fact that Aiko is a woman and singing sometimes under the influence and about the drug made people do a double take. “The Vapors,” the first song on the EP, and “WTH,” which stands for “Way Too High,” Aiko states that are “double entendres” about love.

A change of pace comes with “Bed Peace,” which rapper Childish Gambino aka actor and comedian Donald Glover lends a verse to. Aiko’s love songs tend to be on the darker side, but this track is about a happy time in a relationship. The music video draws inspiration from John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s relationship.

One of the most noteworthy aspects about the EP is that four of the seven tracks feature rappers, including Vince Staples, Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul. Although this album has a heavy hip-hop presence, Aiko never gets lost in the shuffle. Her light silky voice is what her listeners remember.

Aiko is more than just an R&B singer that was added to a hook of a rap song. She even outdid the king of hooks, Drake, on his own album, when she was featured on the song “From Time.”

Another standout track is “The Worst” in which Aiko holds her own with a short rap.

On a personal note, it is quite amazing to see a girl who got booed while opening up for Kendrick Lamar at a House of Blues show back last December now go on tour with Drake, arguably the biggest rapper of our generation, and sing in front of thousands in stadiums. If that isn’t the definition of a quick come-up, then I don’t know what is.

Whether you’re into hip-hop or not, Sail Out is most definitely worth a listen.