Jhené Aiko - "Sailing Soul(s)”

Jhené Aiko’s voice moves like butter from her vocal chords to my ears. Her effortless whispering vocals are always sensual, vibey, and relatable.

It has been 10 years since her debut mixtape Sailing Soul(s), and she's celebrating with a “new” release. 

Aiko has described the mixtape as “the height of me going through all of this stuff, I’d just had my daughter and I was working at a vegan café and I wanted to do this mixtape, so I was recording after work. I just needed to release all my frustration and my heartache and pain. It’s easier for me to write about that type of stuff than happiness.”

Fans can now stream the mixtape that introduced us to Aiko for the first time on all platforms, with 5 bonus tracks.  

The original project featured tracks with Drake and Kendrick Lamar, “july” and “growing apart too” respectively, however they will not be found on the revamp.

All of her other original songs from the mixtape are included and make us feel like we time traveled to the early 2000s. Keeping the original cover, it nostalgically feels like it belongs next to my shrine of Y2K queens like Xtina and Destiny’s Child I had on my walls throughout elementary and middle school.

One of the bonus tracks “mirrors” is produced by Kanye West, and includes an accompanying visual that is all about Aiko talking to her mirrored self. “Living room flow” is quintessential Aiko that's set to a lo-fi beat. 

“2 seconds” is a tribute and complement to the sounds of her original mixtape.

Bedroom pop meets R&B on this track just like the following “snapped.” Her lyrics are what I like to call “pretty bitch” music. 

Saying “I don't need your trust / I don't need this shit, yeah / I have had enough / I think you should just/ Run away / Get away, find a new love/ Run away” in “2 seconds”; and “Damn, guess I'm a killer/ Call me a murderer / Some kind of monster / I'm just a horrible person / I try to tell 'em/ Don't play with my love / This is your warnin' / I do not give a fuck” in “snapped.” Learning all the words will ensure a maximum confidence boost. 

Wrapping up the bonuses is “B’s and H’s,” standing for ‘bitches’ and ‘hoes’. This is truly a bad bitch anthem and I am so happy this song exists. This track actually was released in 2016 with an accompanying music video, but didn’t make it on a streaming service until now.

If you’re only going to listen to one song on the album it should be this one. 

While all the new songs feel current, the oldies of the mixtape are for true Aiko fans. This project is a time capsule back to a decade ago when things seemed oh so much simpler.

Press play on Sailing Soul(s) next time you’re feeling a throwback vibe and some classic R&B goodness.