The Rundown: Jhené Aiko, Souled Out
A track-by-track look at the rising vocalist's debut album.
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The Rundown: Jhené Aiko, Souled Out - Last year Los Angeles-born vocal maverick Jhené Aiko caught fire with the release of her hit EP, Sail Out. With the unleashing of her debut LP, Souled Out, the dynamic singer offers her signature blend of above-the-cloud vocals and smoky, cerebral production. Sit back and click on to see what kind of soul music Ms. Aiko is floating your way.(Photo: ARTium, Def Jam)
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"Limbo Limbo Limbo" - Jhené starts her latest LP with a heavenly track which paints a portrait of a woman who floats through the cosmos. This cut sets the over-all tempo and tone for this hazy and trippy release.(Photo: Josh Brasted/FilmMagic)
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"W.A.Y.S." - "You have got to lose your pride just to find a piece of mind," the singer belts. "You have got to know and side that everything will turn out right." Over an underwater-sounding rhythm, the Los Angeles-raised vocalist offers cosmic conscious instruction on how to deal with the world's chaos.(Photo: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
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"To Love & Die," featuring Cocaine 80s - Showcasing her gangsta side, Jhené sings of being a ride-or-die chick for a man she wants. "I'll fight to the death or until your heart is won." Cocaine 80s backs up Aiko's thug quest.(Photo: Xclusive, PacificCoastNews)
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"Spotless Mind" - "Change is inevitable," the chanteuse informs. "Why hold on to what you have to let go of?" Accompanied by a lilting acoustic guitar, Jhené weaves a wondrous look at her own nomadic life. Photo: evin Winter/Getty Images for BET)
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"It's Cool" - The theme of love is explored in so many ways in music, but on this track Jhené takes a whimsical glance at it, riding her vocal over an ethereal mixture of light keyboard accents and a stuttering drum.(Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
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"Lyin King" - If you haven't guessed from the title, this cut is Jhené's message to a philanderer who breaks hearts "just to see what's inside." "I'm starting to believe that you don't really see that I have given you my life," she chastises.(Photo: Frazer Harrison/BET/Getty Images for BET)
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"Wading" - A flowing piano drifts with a pulsating drum sample as Jhené breezily sings of putting herself and her emotions out there for her beau.(Photo: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for Coachella)
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"The Pressure" - On this atmospheric cut, a melancholy acoustic guitar riff floats alongside a distant beat sample as Jhené sings about wanting to get away from the pressures of life. (Photo: Mark Davis/BET/Getty Images for BET)
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"Brave" - With a production feel similar to "The Pressure," Jhené applies her detached vocal styling to this ode to a lover. She offers him praise for loving her... despite her mercurial life.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for BET)
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"Eternal Sunshine" - "Is it strange for me to say," Jhené inquires melodically, "I love you even more today." Over a heartbeat rhythm, the chanteuse waxes introspectively about the inner happy her lover makes her feel. (Photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Photo By Photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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"Promises," Featuring Miyagi and Namiko - Jhené teams with two of the most important people in her life, her brother who passed away, Miyagi, and her daughter, Namiko, to craft this smooth, airy track, which showcases the rising R&B diva's breezy vocal style.(Photo: London Entertainment / Splash News)
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"Pretty Bird" (Freestyle), Featuring Common - Over a candle-lit beat laced with a celestial kalimba-sounding sync punch, Jhené flexes her ad-libbing skills and vocal stretches. Common joins in for this freestyle jam, rhyming: "The city heard the sounds of a pretty bird/ Yelling from Slauson to 53rd."(Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)
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"Remember" - The reflective cut pulsates with ambiance and velvety fire as Jhené quietly refuses an ex-beau who messed up and wants a second chance. The only message she has for him is that he remember the great woman he had.(Photo: Chris Weeks/Getty Images for Moet Rose)