Jhené Aiko had worked out the kinks — likely unnoticeable to most fans — of The Magic Hour , her first tour in seven years and her first-ever arena run, by the time she sold out Barclays Center in Brooklyn this month. (In fact, all the dates on her 13-stop headlining trek have sold out.) Aiko has been a staple among R&B’s moodiest, freakiest, and wanted-to-fight-you-but-decided-to-meditate-instead listeners since her 2011 debut mixtape, Sailing Soul(s) . She staked her claim to modern R&B while being a young mother to now-15-year-old Namiko, and her nearly two-year-old son, Noah, whom she shares with longtime partner Big Sean. Both children are along for the ride this summer, accompanied by much of her immediate and extended family.
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Her Barclays show brought more women of color to an arena than I had ever seen before, each of us singing her hits like “The Worst,” “PU$$Y Fairy (OTW),” and “Triggered” at the top of our lungs. The night ended with a blast of silvery confetti (“That was the first night that we had confetti,” Aiko tells Rolling Stone ) and Aiko sharing motherly words of encouragement — we should get home safely, we should take care of one another. “I think it’s beautiful that we can alchemize our pain and suffering into moments like this,” Aiko, draped in a translucent gown with long sleeves like wings, told the crowd. “Please make sure that you get some sleep tonight, drink some water. Please make sure that you love one another.”
Two weeks later, Aiko catches up with Rolling Stone just before soundcheck during the last show of this leg, in Atlanta. “Having my children with me really keeps me more mindful of those types of things, because they’re the number-one priority,” she says. The tour will pick back up in her hometown, Los Angeles, on July 31. “Just because I’m in that state of mind of making sure they’re good, then it trickles down to making sure everybody’s good.”
In a rare interview, Aiko opens up about getting back on the road, orchestrating a tour with five other women on the bill (Coi Leray, Kiana Ledé, Tink, Umi, and DJ Starrza), and whether or not there could be a sequel to Twenty88, her beloved album with Big Sean .
I took a really good friend to your show and we both had different moments in our lives that you soundtracked. When “Comfort Inn Ending (Freestyle)” came on, she had a really spiritual experience. For me, Trip was really poignant. I’ve never seen an arena with that many women of color in one place and I’ve never been in a show that loud. I want to ask you about that.
It’s hard to gauge what’s happening out there because, of course, I look out and I see the audience, and I’m singing with everyone. I’m like, “Wow, really?” [The crew is] like, “I’ve never heard this many people sing along word for word.” I don’t go to a lot of concerts and experience from an audience-member perspective, so I love hearing that feedback because I just feel more connected with what’s actually going on from that viewpoint. Thank you for sharing that. I don’t get to do a lot outside of being a mom and working. I don’t get to experience a lot of things from that side of it. The last concert I went to … I don’t even remember, to be honest.
I know you did Coachella this year. Do you go to shows that you’re not performing in?
I didn’t even get to go [to other Coachella shows]. I didn’t even get to see anyone. I guess the closest thing was after I had my son, when he was a few months old, we watched Coachella on YouTube, and that was my most recent concert experience.
Did you watch it on a big screen somewhere in the house?
I did, and I opened the windows and it was like the daytime vibes. I was like, “ Wait, this is kind of a great alternative to actually having to be out with the baby.” You can just pretend that you’re there.
Touring now with two kids — a teenager and a bab y — what is it like mothering?
I say that everything is just another backdrop to being a mom nowadays. It’s just another setting, but they are the number-one priority, so it keeps me really grounded. I started touring when Nami was around three, so she was a little older when I started really touring. I think the first big tour I went on was Drake[‘s] Would You Like a Tour for Nothing Was the Same . I think she was turning four, so she was in school, she could talk, you know what I mean? She really was a full-blown toddler, and it was a little easier. So this is my first time traveling with a baby-baby — by the way, we’re still trying to wean him. So he’s still breastfeeding a bit every day. That’s hard because whenever he sees me he’s like, “ OK, I’m latching onto you.”
I don’t have time to worry about any of the extras or get anxious because I’m just so rooted in taking care of him and Nami, and making sure that they’re good. “Did they eat? Did they sleep? Let me make sure we’re spending time. Let me make sure wherever, whatever city we’re in, we’re able to go somewhere, just spending time together.” My whole family basically is on this tour with me. Both of my big sisters are with me. My big brother is with us, his son, my nephew is with us as well as most of my team — they’ve known me since I was five, six years old. So it’s truly a family road trip. It’s like a summer road trip where we’re working on the side.
We set up every venue with a playroom. It’s a lot going on, but I like it because that’s how I grew up. I grew up in a household where I was the youngest of five, and I’m pretty used to a lot going on. My mom would bring us everywhere, all five of us. It feels like a throwback to growing up where there’s a lot going on, and we all are just rolling together, going with the flow.
I am glad you brought up your family. I saw Mila J, your sister, perform with you. I got chills when you said your mom used to take the five of you everywhere. I wonder what it’s like to see yourself stepping into that matriarchal role. It’s like you’re the person facilitating that now.
So [my mom] actually came out during the Fourth of July for a few days, and you could just tell she was just sitting back, just watching and just taking it all in. It’s a full-circle moment. My family, we’re super close. We do everything together. As often as we can be together, we’re together. So it’s all just sort of been a natural progression. I’m the only daughter with kids. [It’s] me and my brother. He has two and I have two. Miyoko and Jamila, are my older sisters, they’re the aunts that we need.
It’s interesting being the mom, the tour mom, and the performer because I’m also the one that’s like, “OK, did everyone eat? Did we all do this? Are you sleeping? Are you resting?” Just trying to make sure everybody’s good just because now I have that mom brain of knowing what’s important while we’re traveling and making sure that we’re staying on top of our wellness.
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The other big component of it that’s so interesting to me is that you have five women opening, including Starrza, who did an incredible Boiler Room set in L.A. last year. Tell me about putting that many women as openers and the logistics of that decision.
First of all, I think it’s our tour. I hand-selected everyone. Kiana and Umi, I have met personally — I guess it’s been a few years now. We just became friends, you know what I mean? We were just cool as soon as we met. I think I met Umi through one of my A&Rs, and then I met Kiana through my hairdresser at the time, and Coi through a makeup artist. Then Tink, I met her a while ago at a Revolt thing in Miami. It literally came together so organically because these were all women that I already had started friendships with. Starrza, she works with my management as well. There was already a personal relationship.
I wanted to make sure that it was a good mix of what type of vibe, music, and just energy that we were going forward with because I feel like each artist has their own thing that’s very unique and special to them. Sometimes people want to put together a tour where everything is the same. I felt like we were all unique and had our own thing, but put together, we feel very cohesive at the same time. I love that. I love that Umi also does breath work in her show, and I love how energetic Coi is and how fun. Then I love how Tink just comes out — I watch her show backstage on the screen. They usually have screens that play all the shows and usually by the time she’s on, we’re watching. I just love her whole setup. Her and her dancers, they’re so together, it just looks really good. Kiana sounds beautiful every single night. I’m like, “How are you sounding perfect every single night?” Because it’s hard for me to do that. Starrza, I hear her every night, her getting the crowd together, and me and her have had a lot of time to get to know each other. We’re just like kindred spirits.
I have sisters and I know how it is getting along with girls.… I kind of grew up not needing extra friends, male or female, because I have a big family. I have a bunch of cousins. I have brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles. So I have never had a bunch of friends. I know that it can be hard to get groups of people on the same page, but it’s been so pleasant. I feel like everyone here is really in that magical spirit. We do what we can to spread glitter and rose petals everywhere, get everyone in that whimsical state of mind. I am super grateful for that.
Then just to round out the relationships, is Sean touring with you, too?
No, Sean is not touring with me. He’s working on his album right now. So he’s locked in album mode.
How is the distance and managing that part of your life while you’re on the road?
It’s fine. FaceTime, definitely. He’s staying in touch with the baby, and it’s something that we’re both used to. We’ve been doing this for a long time, working and touring and stuff like that.
What about you? What kind of music have you made most recently?
For me, making music is my therapy and it’s also my hobby. It’s what I do whenever I have free time. I’m always working on new music — before I got pregnant, while I was pregnant, after I gave birth. Now there’s lots being worked on. It’s just about putting everything where it goes and getting it all together. My music is just a reflection of where I’m at in life.
Does that mean then there’s a door open for a Twenty88 sequel?
That door is always open. Me and Sean are the same in that sense, where we’re always working on a bunch of stuff at once. I think we just like to multitask and we truly do love to create. It’s one of those things where we’re intuitive and sort of go with the flow when it comes to what we’re working on and what we’re putting out at the time. So we’ll see.
So then you have these products that are out now too, which I think is really interesting. Tell me about going that route with the self-care line, the sound bowls, the jewelry, everything that you’re putting out that people can touch and hold. I think on one hand, particularly as a fan, it feels like there’s a lot of artists selling us stuff now, but I can also see how all of this aligns with you.
For me, it is all one and the same. It’s just offering a sense of support, healing, a sense of hope, a sense of well-being through everything that I am. I’m in a space right now where everything that I do, I want to be intentional and purposeful. I’m the type of person [who] tries every type of skincare, every type of aromatherapy, every type of hair care, every type of anything that has to do with feeling my best, most balanced, most whole, most well self. Gotoheal.com is the ark; it’s the home base for all things healing, for Jhenétics, which is a wellness line. We’re starting with CBD-infused products. That literally happened from me using CBD products and figuring out what I liked and didn’t like about certain products. I had been using it as an alternative to prescription pain medicine. I was having side effects that I didn’t like from those types of medicines. So I started using CBD naturally, finding natural solutions for pain.
That went into me just studying aromatherapy and plant medicine. That’s pretty much how I got into sound healing. It was like, “I need to heal from a lot of different things in a lot of different ways, mentally, physically, spiritually.” I started to study more natural things, and that led to the interest of creating products and doing my own sound-bowl line. We also have Allel jewelry, which is based around the symbol that I created that means balance, protection, and divine guidance. So Jhenétics is the wellness line, and then Allel, which means “a living light, eternal love” is the lifestyle line that has the jewelry. Then we’re going to be releasing some EMF protectant apparel.
I love to create. I think that, above all else, is what I love to do, which is why I’m a mom as well, because that’s also creating life. Creating with purpose and intention is my purpose. That’s why I’m here.
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