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Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American R&B singer-songwriter and rapper from Los Angeles, California. Aiko embarked on her musical career in 2002, as a backing vocalist and music video performer for the R&B group B2K. She was signed by their record label, The Ultimate Group that same year and was marketed as the "cousin" of B2K member Lil' Fizz to cultivate her own following, although they are not related. Her debut album, slated for a 2003 release through the label with Epic Records, was shelved due to Aiko instead further pursuing her education. In March 2011, Aiko made her return to music with the release of her first full-length project, a mixtape titled Sailing Soul(s). In December of that year, she signed a recording contract with producer No I.D.'s record label ARTium Recordings, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. Her mainstream breakthrough followed thereafter, as she co-performed alongside Lil Wayne on Big Sean's 2013 single "Beware", which became her first top 40 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In November of that year, she released her debut extended play (EP) Sail Out, which spawned the singles "3:16AM", "Bed Peace" (featuring Childish Gambino) and "The Worst"—the latter received quintuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Aiko released her debut studio album, Souled Out (2014) to critical and commercial success. Her second and third albums, Trip (2017) and Chilombo (2020), were met with continued success; the latter peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and earned Aiko three Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. Early life Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo was born on March 16, 1988, in Los Angeles, California. Her family lived in South Los Angeles, but their home burned down when she was seven so they moved near Slauson Avenue around View Park–Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, and Ladera Heights where she was homeschooled until high school. She calls her home neighborhood "Slauson Hills". Aiko is the daughter of Christina Yamamoto and pediatrician Karamo Chilombo (born Gregory Wycliff Barnes). Her parents are divorced. Aiko has seven siblings, four from both her mother and father's side and three half-siblings from her father's side. Her older sister is R&B singer Mila J. Her mother is of Spanish, Dominican, and Japanese descent, and her father is of Native American, African-American, and German-Jewish descent. Her maternal grandfather was of Japanese descent and her maternal grandmother is of Dominican heritage. She took vocal lessons in Culver City, but quit when she unexpectedly became pregnant. Aiko addressed her mixed heritage during a Twitter conversation: "I am less black than someone half black, but also less white [than] someone half white… and asian is the least thing i am," she said "So at this point, it’s whatever they want me to be. I have a Japanese grandfather and a Creole/Dominican grandmother on my mothers side and both of my fathers parents are black and white. my dna results came in 25% Asian, 33% African and 34% European. So that is what i was referencing in the tweet. also, those dna sites update and change from time to time so who actually knows. Ok now im done explaining, promise i am human and i see you all as family regardless of how u view me." Career 2002–2006: Career beginnings and hiatus Aiko embarked on her musical career contributing vocals to several B2K releases, as well as a song on The Master of Disguise soundtrack in 2002, while signed to The Ultimate Group and managed by Chris Stokes. During this time she was known as the cousin of B2K's rapper, Lil' Fizz, though she is not actually related to him. It was used as a marketing tool, suggested by her labels Sony, The Ultimate Group and Epic Records, to promote Aiko through B2K and attract an audience; nonetheless Aiko affirms that she and Lil' Fizz grew up together and were close like family. She featured on tracks five through eight of the R&B group's remix album B2K: The Remixes – Volume 1. "Santa Baby", a cover she recorded, was also featured on their album Santa Hooked Me Up and she appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "Tease" from Pandemonium!. Her song "Dog" appeared as a bonus track. Aiko also appeared in numerous music videos including O'Ryan's debut video, "Take It Slow", B2K's debut video "Uh Huh" and "Why I Love You", P.Y.T.'s "Same Ol' Same Ol' (Remix)" featuring Sarai, Play's "M.A.S.T.E.R. (Part 2)" featuring Lil' Fizz video and Morgan Smith's 2004 video "Blow Ya Whistle". Aiko also has songs featured on the soundtracks of Barbershop, The Master of Disguise, You Got Served, The Proud Family and Byou. She released a video for her single "NO L.O.V.E" (re-recorded from Tha' Rayne version in 2002), which debuted on BET's 106 & Park when she was 15 years old. Aiko was set to release her debut album, then-titled My Name Is Jhené in 2003 through Sony, The Ultimate Group, Epic; however, the album was never released due to tension at the record label Epic, which ultimately led to Aiko asking to be released from the label. Aiko later left the aforementioned labels in order to continue her education. 2007–2011: Return to music and Sail Out In 2007, she made a return to music, in an interview she spoke on the choice saying "Shortly before I conceived my daughter, I stepped back into the field and took a meeting with a label head. In this meeting, I was innocently told, to 'sell' myself when walking into these meetings. "That's when I decided I would 'sail' myself rather than sell myself." Aiko released a mixtape on March 16, 2011, titled Sailing Soul(s) via her official website, JheneAiko.com. All the songs on the mixtape were written by her, except "July". The mixtape featured collaborations from Miguel, Drake and Kanye West as well as others. To promote the mixtape Aiko was joined by R&B singer Miguel on a one off free secret performance on Sunday, July 15. On October 21, 2012, Aiko released a music video for the song "My Mine". Aiko also released a video for the mixtape's second track, "Stranger". In 2011, she also began working closely with artists from Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment such as Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, the latter was featured on her EP released November 12, 2013, titled Sail Out. 2012–2014: Breakthrough and Souled Out In 2012, Aiko met with No I.D., record producer and vice president of A&R at Def Jam, who ended up signing Aiko to his Artium Records imprint through Def Jam. Aiko released the track "3:16AM", which was made available for digital download on iTunes September 4, 2012. The song was released as the first single from Sail Out. In 2012, Aiko was also the opening act on the highly anticipated "Life Is Good/Black Rage" concert tour headlined by fellow American artists, rapper Nas and singer-songwriter Lauryn Hill. In June 2013, Aiko was featured on the Big Sean song "Beware", which be.... Discover the Aiko popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Aiko books.