Jhené Aiko

Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo is an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, on March 16, 1988, she grew up in South Los Angeles and near the Slauson Avenue area, where she was homeschooled until high school. Taking vocal lessons in her youth, she later pursued her education after stepping away from early recording projects.

Aiko began her music career in 2002 as a backing vocalist and video performer for the R&B group B2K while signed to The Ultimate Group. Marketed as the cousin of B2K member Lil' Fizz, she contributed to several of the group's releases and soundtrack projects before taking a hiatus from the music industry to focus on her education.

She returned to music in March 2011 with the self-written mixtape Sailing Soul(s), which led to a recording contract with producer No I.D.'s ARTium Recordings, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. Aiko achieved mainstream recognition in 2013 featuring on Big Sean's single "Beware," marking her first top-40 entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, she released her debut extended play, Sail Out, featuring the singles "3:16AM", "Bed Peace", and "The Worst". The latter topped the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop airplay chart and earned a quintuple platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Aiko released her debut studio album, Souled Out, in September 2014, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 and topping the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. She subsequently collaborated with rapper Big Sean under the duo name Twenty88, releasing a self-titled project in 2016. Her second studio album, Trip, arrived in 2017 alongside an accompanying autobiographical short film. In March 2020, she released her third studio album, Chilombo, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200.

Throughout her career, Aiko has earned three Grammy Award nominations for Chilombo, including Album of the Year, as well as prior nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album (Sail Out) and Best R&B Song ("The Worst"). In February 2022, she performed "America the Beautiful" at Super Bowl LVI. Later that year, she established the record label imprint Allel Sound in partnership with Def Jam Recordings.