Trip by Jhene Aiko
Jhene Aiko has created a poetic, sonic and visual psychedelic experience with her masterpiece Trip, produced by the creator Jhene Aiko herself, distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Watch Trip (The Movie)” here, where Jhene Aiko plays the role as what she describes as her purest form “Penny”, a childhood nickname gifted to Jhene by her grandfather. During “Trip (The Movie)” Penny convinces a stranger named Dante to take a trip with her, even though she is struggling from mourning the loss of her dead brother and using substances to cope. She vocalizes how after the traumatic loss of her brother, she looks for him and yearns for love and emotional support from every man that she is with, yet this love never fulfils the empty hole in her heart where her brother once was until she is able to heal all on her own.
Conceptually, Trip first began as as series of poems, then Jhene Aiko created a hero’s journey, or what she calls a “map” pictured below to write the story and surprise released the film along with the album in September 2017.
Trip is shockingly only Jhene Aiko’s second studio album. However, Trip ranked #19 on the list of Best R&B albums of 2017 in Rolling Stone Magazine, and she has been extremely successful thus far with her european tour!
The album contains extremely high quality production from frequent collaborators and friends in the inner circle of Jhene Aiko and Big Sean like; Dot da Genius, Fisticuffs, No I.D. and Key Wane, along with several other record producers such as Amaire Johnson, Frank Dukes, Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat and Mike Zombie. It includes a variety of features from a long list of seasoned artists, such as Jhene Aiko’s boo Big Sean, Swae Lee, Kurupt, Brandy, Mali Music, Aiko’s father, with the moniker Dr. Chill, and Aiko’s daughter, Namiko Love.
Trip, a highly relatable insight into Jhene Aiko’s experiences with grief, survival, illicit substance use of marijuana, lsd and psilocybin, and healing, paired with heavy r&b beats and a level of production on each track that makes you melt a part. The interludes, narrated experiences, conversations and freestyles on Trip provided by Jhene have transformed the feeling of a regular R&B LP with 22 tracks, into a storytelling masterpiece that seems to defy time and space by stimulating an actual psychotropic experience.
Our favorite tracks here at WFNP 88.7 FM the Cutting Edge of the Hudson Valley are “While We’re Young”, “Never Call Me” and of course the albums culmination, “Trip”.
Check out the trippy music video for Sativa ft. Rae Sremmurd here!
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