From Jhené Aiko's mixtape Sailing Souls, her extended play Sail Out, onto her first debut album Souled Out, we come across her second debut album Trip that was released on September 22, 2017.
Aiko described the album on NPR as being, “Inspired by every type of trip you could imagine: mental, physical, psychedelic. It’s a puzzle I want people to put together.”
Two days before the dropping, Aiko filmed a 23-minute movie entitled Trip on Wednesday, September 20, 2017 hinting of her long awaited album.
In the emotional short film written by the singer and Girl’s Trip writer, Tracy Oliver, Jhené stars as Penny, a poet who heads to a quiet beach to write. There, she meets a stranger named Dante, who persuades the the poet to take a trip with him. Though she agrees, she is still mourning the loss of her brother, their love blossoms quickly.
The singer has many touching songs such as "New Balance," "When We Love," and "Frequency." She has collabed with artists and made beautiful masterpieces like "Moments" featuring Big Sean, "Ascension" featuring Brandy, "Oblivion (Creation)" featuring Dr. Chill, and "Sing To Me" featuring, Aiko’s beloved daughter, Namiko Love and many more artists.
“Often you’re dealing with grief,” says Aiko during the NPR interview. “It’s kind of like you relapse. Something little can stretch you all the way back to that moment and you’re starting all over and reliving everything. I feel like i’m finding a way to let it completely disable me. My writing is my therapy. That’s what I turn to.”
Trip is more than chasing love; it’s a confessional story that explains all the pain, divorce, and loss Aiko has experienced that has awakened her power. It also was a healing journey for the loss of her brother, Miyagi Chilombo, to cancer in 2012.
“Since my brother’s passing, I’ve been trying to navigate my feelings,” says Aiko during the latimes interview. “I was in search of healing and my new project Trip helped me find it.”
She’s a brave soul with a unique mind that gives equal parts whether vulnerable or visionary for taking us along the ride.
Credit: ARTium Records and Def Jam