Sexy Soulstress Jhené Aiko talks Music, Motherhood, and Milky Way Galaxies with DOPE MAG Executive Editor ToneSwep
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(ToneSwep: TS) What’s up, lady. How’s everything in Jhene land? That’s like the new Disney land but with some Slauson soulful.
(JHENÉ AIKO: JA) (Laughs) I’m good. Everything is good with me and everything is real peaceful here in Jhene land (giggles).
(TS) We are very excited about you, your music, and your new deal with Def Jam/Artium. But real talk sis, where is the Slauson Hills Milky Way Galaxy?
(JA) Slauson is located on planet earth, but the Slauson Hills are sort of up in the galaxy above the earth. The hills above the hood, basically. Usually people connect Slauson with like Crenshaw and Slauson, but where I’m from is sort of at the end of Slauson and up in the hilly area over-looking that section of LA.
(TS) You’re a busy girl. What is a typical day in the life of Ms. Aiko?
(JA) Well right now it’s just random. Some days I don’t do anything aside from staying home and writing. Then there are busy days like today, where I am doing interviews and in meetings all day. And I have a 3-year-old daughter (Namiko). She wakes me up pretty early, so then I am also a mommy all day. And mommy is an all day, all lifetime thing. I’ve been in the studio nearly every night too. So first I take care of home, then I take care of business, then I record late at night.
(TS) Your phrase “Sailing vs. Selling” off your mega-popular Sailing Souls mixtape has become synonymous with you and your brand-style, very symbolic of your thinking. Give us the distinction between Sailing and Selling.
(JA) Selling is doing something extreme for money. Selling yourself to the point you have sacrificed who you are. Lost yourself. Sailing is simply going with the wind; just being free. Sailing is being free instead of having a price.
(TS) Your style is mis-categorized as R&B. But R&B is a box. You’re not in that box. I listen to songs like “My Mine” and hear Sade. I see Chaka Khan. I feel Phyllis Hyman. I sense Faith Evans, Billie, Badu. What is an accurate description of your style?
(JA) My style is just me. It’s who I am totally. I pull from a lot of different places, people. Young Adult Contemporary is what me and my manager sat down one day and came up with. One song may be a little electronic. Another may be more pop. And yet another true R&B. I don’t ever really call my sound or my style one thing. I am many things. My sound is many things.
(TS) Motown-era soul singers such as Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight inspired the next wave of Pop-Soul singers such as Anita Baker and Whitney Houston. Later, a neo-Soul train dropped Jill Scott, Angie Stone and Erykah Badu off on the Top Ten charts. What is a soul singer today?
(JA) I think today a soul singer is someone who actually puts their soul into the music. Someone you can feel. Adele is a soul singer. But at the same time, someone like me who doesn’t sing out as much as she does is also a soul singer. We represent different genres of music, and our message is unique to the individual, but we both put our souls into what we write and sing. And while I can’t say this for sure, I feel that soul singers write a lot. Tell a personal story.
(TS) Sailing Souls was released as a mixtape, but listens more like a full album. You penned the entire project except for “July”, and the features are Kanye (mixtape), Drake, Miguel. What creative-business statement were you making with that project? Because to this day I don’t think many people consider it a mixtape. It feels like a debut album.
(JA) Really it was me introducing myself and really just giving the audience a little piece of who I am. When I was signed before, when I was young (13), I really didn’t have a certain, specific thing to say. I was just young and creative. Sailing Souls was my first time explaining myself. And with the features I wanted people who were on the same wave length with me. Not just big names to bolster the project, but true artists.
(TS) The song “Popular” starts off - “I was the Young girl / I was the Dumb girl / I was the one, who could never be your One girl / You were the Fly guy / Never ask why guy / Running around making all of the girls Cry guy.” What place were you in when penning this song?
(JA) Probably all of the relationship songs, they revolve around one guy in particular. “Space Jam” is when I was in love with him. Then songs like “Stranger”, “My Mine”, and “Popular” were towards the end of the relationship. When I wrote “Popular” I was writing to the future him, because he is still very popular now. But I was singing to what I see him becoming, at maybe 40’s or 50’s. The song is written to someone who never really gave himself to love. But I’m not there now, in that place, because once I write about something, I’m over it.
(TS) Def Jam and Super-Producer No I.D. Huge deal, and that is now the platform for your career. Tell us how the deal came together.
(JA) A business associate set up the meeting. I didn’t even know what it was about. I thought maybe it was to write, or listen to tracks. But when I went in, No I.D. was like “I’m about to take this position at Def Jam (VP of A&R). And creatively we had a shared vision. It just felt right. As time went on, I found that he’s a creative person not a label person. I’m not looking to create a single. I’m taking time and creating art. And if a single comes from that process then good.
(TS) How does a sister get Major Label Money while navigating Major Label Politics though, Jhene?
(JA) I am actually signed to Artium, No I.D.’s label, which is at Def Jam. I wanted my album to have more of an independent feel, from the visuals to the recording. So this is perfect for me, my sound. For my music.
(TS) Let’s play word association. I have five for you.
(JA) I’m ready.
(TS) War
(JA) Never necessary.
(TS) Journey
(JA) A quote popped in my head when you said Journey, and I think it goes something like… The Journey is the reward.
(TS) Pisces
(JA) One love. The most multi-faceted sign of the zodiac. And probably one of the best. No, Tone. Put that it’s also the best sign of the zodiac.
(TS) Nah, I’m a Gemini sis. So my hands won’t type that. I have to put Gemini is the best. They won’t type Pisces is the best.
(JA) (Laughs!) Wow, so your hands refuse to do it, huh. Well then what’s my fourth word association word then (laughs some more)?
(TS) God
(JA) God is everything.
(TS) Power
(JA) Real power is the power of self.
(TS) If you could depart from anywhere, and arrive anywhere after departing, where would you leave from? And where would you land?
(JA) (intellectual pause… considers) I wouldn’t leave. I would stay where I am. I wouldn’t depart or arrive. I am a firm believer in appreciating where you are and staying in the moment.
(TS) Complex recently named you one the 50 Sexiest Musicians under 25. Actually you were number nine, so in their top 10. What makes you sexy?
(JA) I don’t know (laughs, shyly). I think that maybe a man or woman, any person really, can appreciate someone who is comfortable with themselves. And that’s me. I’m all about being comfortable with who you are. If I have to try too hard, or change too much just to conform to someone’s desires then I’m not going to do it. I wouldn’t put too much effort into changing myself to please someone. It’s sexy to be yourself.
(TS) What makes a man sexy?
(JA) The same thing really, being naturally sexy while being yourself. When a man is comfortable in his skin and displays that confidence, it’s sexy. I don’t like when a guy tries too hard. Like buys you expensive things, takes you to fancy places. He’s overcompensating for lacking the real important qualities. Just keep me laughing. And love.
(TS) You are the multi-cultural embodiment of three ethnic groups known for their individual depth and spirituality, Native American, Japanese, and African American. Do you feel you draw from different interpersonal places within yourself at times? Particularly when creating, being artistic.
(JA) Deep. I think that all three go hand in hand. I mean, considering how the earth used to be. How the continents all used to be one, what is now the West Coast was then linked to Japan. I think I am equally connected to every part of my background. And I grew up around all of the cultures within my household and community. My upbringing wasn’t a situation where I was mixed but only grew up around Asian, Black, or Native people. I grew up around all three. And people always pick out certain things, like “This part of you is more Asian. That part of you is more Native. So maybe people see it, or feel it, more than I do. Because all of them are just me, to me.
(TS) How has motherhood changed you?
(JA) Motherhood has made me fearless. Maybe a little too brave at times (laughs). I feel as though my only fear now is being too brave. Once you go through that entire process of having a child, I mean… it just made me fearless. It made me honest with my music and self. And fearless. Just brave and realistic. And it’s keeping me patient. And although I am still working on being more patient, when you have a child you have to be patient. Because if you aren’t it will drive you crazy.
(TS) Earlier this year, you and the family celebrated your Grandfather’s 75th Birthday. 51 years from now, when we’re all in Hollywood attending a huge gala in celebration of your 75th Birthday, what will we be celebrating? What will the Jhené Aiko legacy be?
(JA) My biggest dream would be to have a Nobel Peace Prize for literature. To be the first singer in my genre, or of this new generation at least, to have such an impact on the world in that way. And I’ve wanted to win a Nobel Peace Prize ever since elementary school. My goal is not to win 60 Grammys, or to land a big movie deal. I want to cross over into having an impact on the real world and have a profound impact on the people that need us, who need change and inspiration to draw from. I want to change the way people think and live.
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