Hands up for Aiko and Sean, though. Their chemistry today is a sight to marvel. The frequent collaborators—most notably on “I Know” off of Sean’s latest album Dark Sky Paradise—have created an album that conjures ’90s R&B and ’70s experimental rock/soul with their eponymous TWENTY88 record. The album also mixes neo-soul, ambient beats, and trap drums courtesy of producers like Da Internz.
As a whole, TWENTY88—out in April on Def Jam—is a departure from each artist’s individual sounds. “It’s a wide range,” says the 28-year-old Aiko. “It gets turned up,” adds Sean, “then it gets melodic, then it gets vibed out. It touches all these things, but it sounds very cohesive.”
And to elevate the rollout of their album, Aiko and Sean conceived a music video short film in which they play adult film stars. “It’s a ’70s aesthetic, but we’re in the future.” Aiko explains. They draw from various influences—Blaxploitation films like Coffy (1973)—where a smart, strong Pam Grier empowers herself and goes vigilante against organized crime—and Roger Moore’s Bond films—style, luxury, and debonair masculinity are definitive parts of Sean’s undeniable appeal—and even 2015’s sci-fi Ex Machina.
Downstairs are bedrooms and his studio where he plays me “Out of Love” in its entirety. Sean and Aiko recorded a large chunk of their album here, and their recording sessions were intimate. “It was usually just me, Jhené, and the engineer,” says Sean, “I had a lot of the raw ideas, and she would build them up. But it was pretty natural and organic.” Sean came up with the concept for the track “On the Way,” he says, “but then she freaked it. It’s about being on the way to somebody. I feel we’ve all had that moment when we’re on the way to that special person. You’ve got that feeling. You’ve been waiting all day for it.”
“Two-Minute Warning,” which features K-Ci and JoJo, is the most sexually explicit song on TWENTY88. It’s on this track that Aiko says she, “Stepped out of my comfort zone. That was a part to of me that I haven’t really shown to the public.” On “Talk Show” Aiko calls Sean out for ****ing around on her before admitting she stepped out on him too. “Since we invited everyone in the bedroom, let’s take the covers off,” Sean spits.
“We went on a date,” Aiko reveals. “We went to a Lakers game. It was a long time ago,” (it was in May of 2012 to be exact). “First of all, I had a boyfriend and me and Sean had already met. We were friends. So he asked me to go out with him and even though I had a boyfriend
I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to go to the Lakers game! Sean had never asked me if I had a boyfriend or not.”
“I didn’t care,” Sean inserts.
“It was pretty obvious after a while it was a date,” Aiko continues. “We had never really been alone together. It was really fun. I took a picture of Kobe.”
“Oh, that’s why it was fun?” Sean says with a laugh.
“And then I saw Jack Black and Sean took a picture of me and Jack Black,” adds Aiko, laughing, “I was really excited about that.”
“She was really excited to go with me too,” says Sean.
“The next day they had us up on a blog: Sean’s new Spanish girlfriend or something like that. So I tweeted: ‘I’m not dating Big Sean LOL.’ And then Sean got mad at me like, ‘You gonna play me like that?’ I’m like, ‘But we’re friends!’”
“I’m real serious, but I’m real silly too,” Sean insists. “So she said that, and I was like, ‘Oh straight up.’ She knew it was just from a fun place.”
“So…” says Aiko, “that was our first date.”
Chemistry aside, they both insist that they’re single and just enjoying each other’s company. “It was fun for me to do something that was not so serious as far as me telling all of my deepest, darkest thoughts and being extra introspective. I don’t really record love songs. I usually express it when it’s gone bad. It was good to have songs from when it was a happy moment. It’s us having fun. And it’s also a look into our future too, you know, maybe…”
More:
http://flaunt.com/music/big-sean-and...unce-twenty88/
