Jhene Aiko - Chilombo ALBUM REVIEW

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I’ve never been the biggest Jhene Aiko fan. She has nice songs every now and then, but in an album capacity, it just seems a little too generic for me. For each album she puts out, I feel like there’s more and more potential. Her last double album Trip was actually quite good, and her collaborative project with Big Sean TWENTY88 has grown on me in the time it’s been out. Her latest release, Chilombo, is something that I’ve been keeping my eye on for a while. Maybe for this new album, her sound might get changed up for the better, or have a little more experimentation in there for good measure. Let’s get into Chilombo and see!

Chilombo is an alternative R&B album with soul undertones. I don’t want this to be an incredibly short review, but this album just comes off as a little… bland. The vocals and production are pretty nice, but it feels so very one-note that it comes off as just one 63 minute song. It feels like taking making a sandwich out of just two slices of white bread and just taking a giant bite out of it. I mean, there’s are a couple of songs I like off of it. “B.S.” with H.E.R. is a chill vibe, and it’s the same with “Happiness Over Everything (H.O.E.)” with Miguel and Future, but those are the only songs that stood out to me. Other than that, it just feels uninspired, for lack of a better term. I don’t want to call it uninspired because Aiko is a genuinely talented singer and artist, but I just feel sorely disappointed with Chilombo.

Well, yeah, you heard me. Chilombo isn’t great. There’s still so much potential in Aiko’s career, but Chilombo is the exact opposite of potential: lost potential. This could have been a great album, but the cards simply weren’t dealt right. That makes me quite sad.



4/10



Stream Chilombo here

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