(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OLLA (ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE)")ĪIKO: (Singing) Fireballs falling out of the sky, sky, ricocheting off the brain into the eye, eye. And on this song, "Only Lovers Left Alive," Aiko crafts a witty echo of the disco music of Donna Summer with a funk backbeat. On the song "Ascension," she collaborates with the '90s pop star Brandy on a warm, lovely ballad. TUCKER: This album has its upbeat moments and those connect Aiko's best pop music instincts. Got me - got me over here overstimulated. Crushing the line, cutting a line, crossing the line, bumps in the night. The result, on a song such as "Overstimulated," is her own brand of trip-hop.ĪIKO: (Singing) Don't get it wrong. And sometimes she wants to lay out the thinking behind her use of these substances.
Sometimes she wants to convey what it feels like to be on a certain kind of high. Aiko could not be more direct in songs with titles such as "Psilocybin," "LSD," "Sativa" and "Bad Trip." The music is varied and vivid. The album title refers to both geographical journeys and inner-mind alteration. There is sorrow and grief in a lot of this music, as well as an attempt to escape from grief, either through music or romantic relationships or drugs. TUCKER: In interviews, Aiko has said that some of the music here was created as a response to losing her brother to cancer. I always get caught in the moment with you, with you, with you, with you, with you, with you.
The time is ours, not for borrow - both got a past full of sorrow. Please take away the stress I don't need. Right now I need you here on me - no substitute. Just tell me it will be all right 'cause, baby, in a world full of cancer where everyone needs a ransom, my mama said love is the answer. She hits her rhymes with a firmness that is at once precise and subdued.ĪIKO: (Singing) These are the moments in time that we've been waiting our whole life to find, that we've been searching for all through the night. Aiko's voice emerges from the mix, swirling around the other instruments like smoke. The songs most often deploy keyboards and percussion to create spare, chilly soundscapes. TUCKER: With this album overflowing with 22 tracks, Jhene Aiko has a lot of music to share. When I don't want to see what is in front of me I, I do see you perfectly. The effect is to make you the confidant in a one-way conversation.ĪIKO: (Singing) Picture perfect - you are picture perfect to me.
Her voice is heard most frequently as an intimate murmur, singing that is one step away from quiet talk. KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: On her new album, "Trip," Jhene Aiko is intent on erasing the distance between performer and audience.
As I release this frequency - oh, free my city, free my. JHENE AIKO: (Singing) Frequency frequently - as I release this frequency, speak to me. Ken says Aiko's new album has 22 tracks carefully organized to showcase her ambition and range. Our rock critic Ken Tucker has a review of singer-songwriter Jhene Aiko's new album called "Trip." In recent years, she's collaborated with other pop and hip-hop artists such as Drake, J. Nowadays, Jhene Aiko did DNA test to prove her ethnicity, and the result is 33% Black, 33% Asian and 33% White.This is FRESH AIR. How about her mom? Jhene Aiko’s mother is Christina Yamamoto who has Asian – Dominican descent. There is other information said that Jhene Aiko’s father has Germany Jewish and Native American descent. Beside famous as a singer, Jhene Aiko is also famous for being a girlfriend of Big Sean.Īs for your information, Jhene Aiko father is Karamo Chilombo, he had African– American descent. Then, many people has same question, so what is Jhene Aiko ethnicity? It is because of her Asian face. Jhene Aiko was born in California on March 16, 1988. Why they could say that she is an American singer? Yeah, it is because of she was born in America. As everybody knows, Jhene Aiko is famous as American R&B singer. Nowadays, there are so many news spread talking about DNA test of Jhene Aiko.