Who Is Jhené Aiko?
Lauren Nostro
The 24-year-old singer has been in the industry for years. Now she's ready to make music on her own terms.
https://images.complex.com/complex/images/w_144/complex-icon_m74wk2/complex-favicon.ico
Image via Complex Original

Jhené Aiko has been around for a while, but really, she's just getting started. Nearly 10 years after signing with Epic Records in a piggyback deal with former boy band B2K, she's linked up with No I.D. and signed to Def Jam through his Artium Recordings label. Aiko, 24, is gearing up to drop her album, Souled Out, in early 2013 and after the success of her mixtape Sailing Soul(s), the anticipation for her next project is higher than ever.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Aiko grew up in a big household—her entire family pursued music in some form. Her older sisters were part of the group Gyrl and her older brothers were involved in the industry, too. She was only five years old when she met Chris Stokes and as a young teen, Aiko signed to Epic Records. Formerly known as Lil' Fizz's cousin (they're not really related), Aiko spent months in the studio working on nearly 200 songs, but Epic wasn't sure of her sound, and at the time, neither was she. After leaving Epic, Aiko gave birth to her daughter, Namiko, with O'Ryan—the brother of former B2K member and current Maybach Music artist, Omarion.

Aiko dropped Sailing Soul(s) in March 2011 and made her way back into the industry but this time, on her own terms. After signing to Def Jam in December 2011, she's now working on her next album, juggling motherhood and a blossoming career, especially since her latest single and visuals for "3:16 A.M." became a success. The young singer stopped by Complex to speak on her latest projects, linking up with No I.D., her obsession with horror movies, and who she's working with. Read on to find out exactly who is Jhené Aiko.

As told to Lauren Nostro (@LAURENcynthia)

RELATED: Jhené Aiko Confirms Upcoming Project With Cocaine 80s

RELATED: Video: Jhene Aiko "3:16 A.M."

Growing Up in Los Angeles

“I was born and raised in Los Angeles and I’m the youngest of five. My dad is a pediatrician but was always interested in being a singer. Our garage was a converted studio. He plays the guitar and writes songs.

I had a career day and I was the student body president of my elementary school so I had to escort all the career day speakers around and my sisters came. After that, everyone thought we were rich and famous because they were in a singing group but that wasn’t the case.

"By the time I was born all my brothers and sisters were singing. My sisters had a singing group since I can remember. They were always in some type of group or dancing or commercials. Growing up in Los Angeles, there is always showbiz stuff like agents coming up to parents like, ‘Does she sing? Does she act?’

“I looked up to my siblings and wanted to sing just because they’re my older siblings. I remember I had a career day and I was the student body president of my elementary school so I had to escort all the career day speakers around and my sisters came. After that, everyone thought we were rich and famous because they were in a singing group but that wasn’t the case.

“My mom was always working with my dad or my grandfather, who is a lawyer. She went to Hawaii for college, all four years and got a degree in business but she has five kids so she started doing that. My mom and her siblings were born and raised in Compton, Gardena area and my dad is from Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born and raised in Cincinnati and all of his family is there. I went to Cincinnati when I was fourteen or fifteen and I barely got to see them. I hear they are all like my dad and he is crazy, spunky even in his late sixties. He has a lot of hyper energy and me and my brothers and sisters are like that too, a little weird. It’s loud when we are all together.

I was used to being around everyone so much I’ve always wanted to escape, it was so loud. I’m more of the quiet one, the one who wants to do more of my own thing.

“I have two sisters, two brothers and then there’s me. It was my two sisters and my two brothers and I would be with my mom a lot or I would be with my own group of friends. I would be the one who always got my own room. I was the one who always wanted to sleep over at someone else's house or bring someone over because my sisters had each other and my brothers had each other.

“I was used to being around everyone so much I’ve always wanted to escape, it was so loud. I’m more of the quiet one, the one who wants to do more of my own thing. Sometimes I’m laid back but a lot of the time it would be me and my two brothers and I have lots of cousins because my mom is the oldest of five and they all grew up in the same household. I have a lot boys cousins so a lot of the time it would be me, my brothers, my cousins—I was the only girl. I was a tomboy at the time. I wanted to do whatever they were doing, wrestling or playing tackle football but I was still a girl. They had fun so I liked to hang out with them."

Starting to Sing

“I fell into music and when I was in the second or third grade I did a talent show at school. I sang with my best friend, we sang 702's “Steelo” and after that everyone was like, ‘You sounded very good.” That’s when I was like, ‘Is this a talent?’ Before it was just fun to sing and from then on I just continued to sing.”

“I never toured with my sisters, I was a baby at the time. Around that time I would be with my grandmother and my aunts because my mom managed them so she would tour with them. I was really young when they were touring with Immature. I don’t even think I was in elementary school yet.

I loved Brandy growing up. Brandy and a lot of West Coast rap like The Chronic, Tupac, Lil' Kim and Biggie.

“My oldest sister was in one of Immature’s first videos and from there my mom met Chris Stokes and he wanted to work with my oldest sister, I was just a baby when he wanted to work with them.”

“I loved Brandy growing up. Brandy and a lot of West Coast rap like The Chronic, Tupac, Lil' Kim and Biggie. I was into all the 90s hip-hop, Mariah Carey, TLC, all nineties music.”

Getting Signed With B2K

“I met Chris Stokes because I was always around my sisters and he knew that I sang. When he did the deal with B2K, I was a piggyback deal. It was thrown on me. I wasn’t preparing for it, I was 13 when I signed to Epic Records. I was in school and it was this random opportunity. They were willing to give me a deal along with the B2K deal and of course as a 13 year old, you agree.

They were willing to give me a deal along with the B2K deal and of course as a 13 year old, you agree.

“My mom was managing me at the time and it was something to do. Epic had me record literally over two hundred songs because I was in with every writer, every producer and they didn’t know my sound or my direction and I didn’t either. I was doing it but after a while I needed to finish my school work and focus on other thing because after a while I was going nowhere.

“I knew Fizz and he was like a cousin so they just thought that would be a good marketing thing. At the time, no one ran it past me because I was thirteen and at the time they started putting that on everything and it was the tagline. We went along with it because we were young. To me it is a whole lifetime ago because I was more focused on boys and having a boyfriend than doing music.

Epic had me record literally over two hundred songs because I was in with every writer, every producer and they didn’t know my sound or my direction and I didn’t either.

“I’m not actually related to Lil’ Fizz. He was in a group with my oldest brother when I was 7. They never got signed. It was five boys and my brother was a little older so they split the group into two and three and the younger group became B2K and the older group was Melodic and Karma. They were doing things but they broke up, too.

“It was a great experience to tour and everything. All my friends were worried about homework and I’m in a different city every night and performing at Madison Square Garden but when I think back to that time all I think about is the boyfriend I had. He was in B2K."

Leaving Epic Records

“I was getting bored with it and I could tell they didn’t have a plan for anything. I was in the studio for two years and I didn’t know what was happening so that’s when I decided to ask for a release from both my label and my management with T.E.G. when I was fifteen or sixteen.

I was always recording and writing. I had met so many different people from being signed and I was so young that everyone I worked with became a big sister or big brother.

“I was always recording and writing. I had met so many different people from being signed and I was so young that everyone I worked with became a big sister or big brother. They would call me, especially when I left T.E.G., and say, ‘We want to work with you without craziness.’ I would record demos for people and writing for people.

“A couple people wanted to work on my own stuff with me but I was trying to finish up high school. I was going to community college. I was working two jobs at the mall. I worked at Pac Sun and then a few years later I worked at Hollister and I worked at a Law Office.

"I was working in a vegan cafe when I started recording Sailing Soul(s). That whole period of time I was still writing and recording while working a regular job and finishing school. Once I finished high school I started going to a community college and then I had my daughter.

"The year before Sailing Soul(s) which would be 2010, I was working at the restaurant, being a mom and recoding. It got to a point at the restaurant where I couldn’t do it, it was too much. I just wanted to get the mixtape done because I could always get a job because it’s easy to get hired for restaurant jobs.”

Musical Influences and Who She's Working With Now

“I don’t listen don’t listen to a lot of things other than the tracks I’m being sent because I don’t like to be influenced by anything like, ‘This person is hot, let me see what they’re doing.’ I’ve never really listened to what everyone else is listening too. I love silence so if I’m listening to music it’s because I’m working on it or because I’m with someone and I can’t tell them to turn off their music.

I’ve never really listened to what everyone else is listening too. I love silence so if I’m listening to music it’s because I’m working on it or because I’m with someone and I can’t tell them to turn off their music.

“I do get in my moods and there are some people that I could listen to all day like Kid Cudi, John Mayer and Ab-Soul. Ab-Soul is one of those people I listen to and think, 'How did you come up with that?' With Kid Cudi, I could listen to one song all day over and over.

"It’s a personal thing. The TDE connection came through a mutual friend who is involved in their management and when I first worked with Kendrick, I wasn't familiar with him or TDE but just being around them I said, ‘Wow this is dope. This is something I want to be a part of.’ I felt like I could fall right in and with Ab-Soul especially, we connected on a personal mind level. He’s a Pisces as well and we just talk about astrology and religion because I’m into everything science and religion and he is too. He’s the one out of TDE that I have a friendship with and I want him to listen to the song and ask him, ‘What do you think about this flow? What do you think about this line that I said?’

I felt like I could fall right in [with the TDE crew] and with Ab-Soul especially, we connected on a personal mind level. He’s a Pisces as well and we just talk about astrology and religion because I’m into everything science and religion and he is too.

“I worked with Big Sean because No I.D. works closely with him and when I’m in the studio, he’s usually in the other recording room. So that’s how the feature on his new album came about. We’re not in the same camp but we are always around each other. The track I did with him is more my vein, or a happy medium. I think melodically, it’s more my style but then he’s talking about things that he talks about. I think we met in the middle.

“Casey Veggies is from L.A. and I support L.A. to the fullest. I would never leave L.A. and move to New York. I just think it’s cool we have everything at our fingertips. We can go to the beach. We can go to the mountains. We can go to the desert. We can go to the quiet. We can go to the noise. I feel like everyplace has that too but the weather is nice and all of my family is there and I’m so comfortable there. I like it a lot."

Her Sailing Soul(s) Mixtape

“To me it was a mixtape and back in the day, mixtapes were songs on other people’s beats—jacking beats basically. I wanted to make it feel like a mixtape as far as the features, with the Gucci verse and the Kanye verse, we just ripped those for Gucci’s song with Wale and Kanye’s from his verse at the B.E.T. cyphers.

We played him “July” and then a couple weeks later, they sent me this version with Drake on it. He basically just took my hook which was okay, but then a few weeks later someone leaked it to a DJ and because it’s Drake, everybody was getting it.

“I worked with Kendrick, Lite, H.O.P.E. and Roosevelt. I worked with Miguel. The Drake collaboration, I was pregnant and not into anything and I was just like, ‘Session? Drake? Okay.’ I wasn’t even writing at the time and a friend of mine, the writer of “July,” had a hook for me to sing. I don’t think Drake was really feeling it because I recorded it and he said he would write to it later then we played him some of my other songs. We played him “July” and then a couple weeks later, they sent me this version with Drake on it. He basically just took my hook which was okay, but then a few weeks later someone leaked it to a DJ and because it’s Drake, everybody was getting it. When it came down to my mixtape, I figured I should put “July” on there because he jacked my song so I might as well jack it back from him and put it on there.

Fisticuffs is a L.A. based producer duo. They have worked a lot with Miguel. They are true L.A. guys who are very musical. They're my favorite people to work with.

“Everyone else on the mixtape is from L.A., friends and such because L.A. is so small especially when you do music. Fisticuffs is a L.A. based producer duo. They have worked a lot with Miguel. They are true L.A. guys who are very musical. They went to performing arts school together and they play instruments so a lot of their tracks have a lot of live instruments. They do this with Miguel too, but with they will give me a track with two instruments and then they’ll record more and then I’ll add more. It’s very tailored and they’re the best. They’re my favorite people to work with."

The Meaning Behind Sailing Soul(s)

“I was four months pregnant at the time but I wasn’t telling anyone because I was still going record because I had people actually ask me, ‘Are you ok to sing?’ I was recording up until I was basically in bed and I was fine. I took a meeting and it was random. I wasn’t really recoding and didn’t have a demo. It was through a mutual friend and he spoke about a meeting with a big recorded executive so I took it and at this point I had already adopted this attitude of ‘I’m Me.’

This is me and if you wanted me to come in here with this whole speech about how I’m your next superstar that wasn’t going to happen.

“I went in and sang for him and he said, ‘I’ve loved you since you were younger but the thing is when you come into these meetings you have to sell yourself.’ I said, ‘No I don’t’ because this is me and if you wanted me to come in here with this whole speech about how I’m your next superstar that wasn’t going to happen.

“He was a fan and that was his tip to me as the one thing I was missing—that I needed to walk in there and sell myself but I said, ‘No I don’t.’ From that moment I had my daughter and started working on Sailing Soul(s) and there was no name to it. I did two songs then I recorded “Growing Apart” with Kendrick Lamar. I was on Twitter talking about selling and Chase N. Cashe corrected my spelling and we went back and forth, then I started talking about sailing like a sailboat and I said, ‘Sailing not selling.’ At the end of our Twitter conversation, I decided that would be a good name for mixtape. I connected that to my feeling of being a free spirit going with the wind like sailboat.”

Linking Up With No I.D.

“My good friend, Noah Preston—we’re both from L.A. and it’s a small town when you’re doing music—always had my back with whatever he was doing when he was working with different labels. He would always ask what I was working on and suggest meeting people. He ended up working with No I.D. and we set up a meeting. I didn’t really know what the meeting was for. I thought maybe he was going to produce for me, I didn’t know he was going to be at Def Jam as vice-president.

No I.D. is an artist too. He’s a creator. He’s not a business guy looking you up and down thinking about what he can do with you.

“We took the meeting and I was weary because I didn’t know if I wanted to do a label deal because of the relations I have and the fan base I was gaining I felt like we could do it on our own but when we sat down from the first meeting, we felt comfortable because No I.D. is an artist too. He’s a creator. He’s not a business guy looking you up and down thinking about what he can do with you. You can just tell when a person isn’t about that and he said do whatever you want to do.

"We had the option to sign directly to Def Jam or through his label, Artium Recordings, and I wanted to do it through his label so it had more of an independent feel. You’re dealing with the same people but it felt better for me to do it that way.”

Learning From Motherhood

“I had my daughter when I was 20 with O’Ryan, who is Omarion’s brother. We’ve known each other since elementary school before we were singing or before anyone’s brother was anything. We dated for three years and then broke up. While we were broken up we had her and that’s how life works.

My daughter, Namiko, just put more passion as far as what I wanted to do with my music, what I wanted to sing about and my message.

"She gave me the focus, the drive and the urgency to get something done. I have always been about getting work done but with a child, something needs to happen and she just put more passion as far as what I wanted to do with my music, what I wanted to sing about and my message.

“It made me more patient, more driven and more focused on getting stuff done. You have a life to support there’s no procrastination. You wake up everyday and get it however you have to. As far as my music it made me want to be super honest and tell my story because I want her to be able to go back, listen to my stuff and understand what I went through and not be confused. I want to be an example to her to be herself and not be afraid of anyone judging her or me being disappointed and be honest with herself.

As far as my music it made me want to be super honest and tell my story because I want her to be able to go back, listen to my stuff and understand what I went through and not be confused.

“She sings. She knows how to record herself. On my phone, I have singing videos because she likes to watch the little girls on YouTube that sing. Her favorite is Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, and she makes up songs everyday. She’ll be 4 next month and she’s told me she wants to be on iCarly. She wants to do all of that and I say ‘Okay, we will see.’

“She knows [my music] because when I write, I drive around with it in my car and just sing out loud and freestyle to it. Before I record it I practice to it so she knows the songs before they’re even recorded. By the time I record it and put it on a CD she knows it. She knows every word to all my songs. Sometimes I just drive aimlessly to write and practice my music. I have nowhere to go and I’ve only been driving for a year. I was a late bloomer. When I was younger I was signed and I was in New York City a lot, so it was always about car service. The car is my favorite place to write now even if i’m just parked and I just sit near some pretty scenery because I have a cozy car—a Prius.”

Her Single "3:16 A.M."

“Fisticuffs started the track and we hadn’t been [in the studio] in a long time and it was just the melody. After Sailing Soul(s)people gave their critique and I always felt like a lyricist more than a singer. I really want to show it off and whatever I’m thinking about, I’m going to write that down. I was in the studio and I just started saying what I was and the track ended at 3:16 and I didn’t really have a clear concept of what I was going to write about so I just kept writing.

The visual was definitely inspired by horror movies because as a child, I was obsessed with the The Twilight Zone and just scary movies that would be on late at night.

“I did the first verse and they added to it and it was three weeks before I recorded or wrote anymore. The song kept growing into these thoughts. The visual was definitely inspired by horror movies because as a child I was obsessed with the The Twilight Zone and just scary movies that would be on late at night. I would get in trouble for it. My mom would tell me to go to bed and I would stay up and have nightmares and my mom would say, ‘That’s because you watch scary movies.'

“I stopped getting scared of them. I don't remember what I watched when I was little but one of my favorite movies, it’s not really horror, but The Others. I like a lot of the Japanese scary movies like The Grudge and The Ringbut the real Japanese versions.

In my mind, I’m a schizophrenic. During the day I go through so many different emotions, at some point every day I’m in a depressed state, even if it’s just for five minutes but I’ll go there and it will be deep and dark. So “3:16 a.m.” was me staying with it longer and writing about those moments.