Jhene Aiko - Souled Out

[Music Head]

enters the Billboard chart this week at #2

Spotify online listen
3.0 of 5.0 from allmusic

never heard of this gal
started as a backup singer
got promoted to featured artist status with Drake
that was the push she needed
debut album here
not my thing but it may be yours

artist website - http://jheneaiko.com/

Bio - from allmusic



Born and raised in Los Angeles, R&B singer/songwriter Jhené Aiko first came to prominence during the early years of the 2000s when she was
signed to Epic and contributed vocals to several tracks for labelmates B2K. Coming from a musical family, with two of her sisters (Miyoko and
Jamila) members of the group Gyrl, Aiko had all the musical grounding to launch her later successes through various appearances on music videos
and soundtracks.

After collaborating with other artists during her early to mid-teens, she took a brief hiatus to finish her education. In 2011, she released her
comeback mixtape, Sailing Soul(s), comprised of dreamy, minimal R&B vocals; it was entirely written by Aiko herself and featured collaborations
with Drake, Gucci Mane, and Kanye West. In 2012, she signed with Def Jam through No I.D.'s ARTium imprint and released the single "3:16AM." The
following year proved to be pivotal for Aiko -- she featured on Big Sean's Top 40 hit "Beware" and teamed up with Drake for an appearance on his
highly anticipated album Nothing Was the Same. Critics praised her performance with Drake, which raised her profile globally.

In November 2013 she released her debut EP, Sail Out, which included the tracks "Bed Peace" (featuring Childish Gambino) and "The Worst," the
latter of which peaked at number nine on Billboard's R&B chart. Souled Out, her proper debut album, was released the following September.

Album Review - from allmusic



In the early 2000s, Jhené Aiko was a B2K associate signed to TUG, the Epic subsidiary operated by Chris Stokes. The teenage singer appeared on
B2K projects and numerous compilations and soundtracks, released a solo single, and recorded an album that was shelved. She subsequently left
the industry for several years, then resurfaced in 2010 like a new artist -- one with a voice and approach different than squeaky and peppy,
less Yummy Bingham's "Come Get It," more Cassie's "Me & U." Featured roles on tracks by Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q boosted her profile and
cred, as did a 2011 mixtape that involved the likes of Lamar, Kanye West, Drake, and Miguel. Producer No I.D. signed her to his Def Jam-
supported Artium, where she released a late 2013 EP led by "The Worst," a Top Ten R&B single. As that song was finishing its run, she followed
up with early singles from Souled Out, her proper debut album. When the set was released, Aiko's style -- shaped in part by accommodating
producers like Fisticuffs, Dot da Genius, and No I.D. -- was instantly recognizable. On Souled Out, the singer and songwriter's form of
contemporary R&B continues to blur the line between seductive and sleepy, her voice among the lowest wattage in commercial music history. Just
as she is wistful about "summer nights and water fights" (in "Eternal Sunshine") and "turquoise seas and ocean breezes" (in "Spotless Mind"),
she often injects sharply contrasting melodrama ("Now many men/Many, many, many, many men/Wish death upon me") with only minor variations in
tone. Sonically, the majority of these songs can be classified as slow jams, but Aiko deals with some form of relationship turmoil in nearly
every one of them; given the amount of introspection, the album is most suited for coping with stress. Aiko can be maddeningly platitudinal and
singsongy, but her one dimension is a specific balmy backdrop provided by no one else.

a few I liked better but this looks like the first single:

[video=youtube;00bumpN0Mhw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00bumpN0Mhw[/video]

Track Listing

1. Limbo Limbo Limbo
2. W.A.Y.S
3. To Love & Die
4. Spotless Mind
5. It’s Cool
6. Lyin King
7. Wading
8. The Pressure
9. Brave
10. Eternal Sunshine
11. Promises
12. Pretty Bird (Freestyle)

[Jerome]

Have not listened to the album yet but the cover of the album is great.