Review: "CHILOMBO" Album by Jhene Aiko
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Jhene Aiko’s “CHILOMBO” is that journal entry turned breakup mixtape we all wished we had as angsty teens. It’s also that bedroom mixtape that chronicles the days of early love, with all the good, bad, and every bit in between. Reminding us of all those milestones and more, Jhene’s sweet voice covers a lot of ground with this 20-song album.
The first two breakup songs “Triggered (freestyle)” and “None of Your Concern” featuring Big Sean are pure empathy poetry that you can feel the listeners nodding along to as she gives her sermon. Even more meta is the fact that her ex Big Sean is actually featured on the track, making it feel more like a positive note of a closure than a bitter replaying of bad memories.
“B.S” featuring H.E.R is a work of levity, immersing us in a greenhouse of zen that brings us into Jhene’s world. A modern day reiteration of Aaliyah, Jhene is just the right amount of coy and sassy. Her vocals might be soft, but they’re anything but meek, with many lines hearkening mantras of self care and confidence.
Any other big part of that self care she covers? Some between-the-sheets intimacy that made our jaws drop in “P*$$Y Fairy (OTW)” which lays out blatantly sexual lines that male RnB singers don’t think twice about writing into their tracks. She served us a little Kelly Rowland with a whole lot of original Jhene in there, making this track a top contender for the entire album, coming just in time for Valentine’s Day. Chronicling how new lovers feel drunk on each others bodies in the honeymoon phase, her angelic voice delivers some contrasting *gasp emoji* lyrics that make us see her in a whole new way.
The rap features she got on “CHILOMBO” are also no joke, and only enhance her comparisons to Aaliyah. Ab-soul featured with a flawless verse on the wavy “One Way St”, a Lunice-esque track.
Both Ab and Nas transport the tracks to a late ‘90s, early ‘00s energy that we desperately need in the 2020 rap landscape. “10k Hours” with Nas is another floating-on-air moment that both voices regrets of a failed relationship and that floating-on-air feeling of addiction to another person. “Have you ever loved someone, then lost that one? /have you ever met someone that ain’t coming back“ as Nas delivers some Ja-Rule inspired vocals.
“CHILOMBO” has a warm and mellow overtone - something that the velvet-voiced Jhene has mastered by now. We wish we saw her pushing boundaries a little more, but be assured that loads of these tracks will be dominating playlists over the next few months and become the dopest beach tunes of the summer.