This month Jhene Aiko dropped her debut studio album "Souled Out". I was a big fan of "sailing souls" and "Sail Out" so it's exciting to see her finally release a studio album.On first listen, it sounds pretty much EXACTLY like all of her previous stuff. Really mellow, trance-y, music you just chill to. And I get it, it's her style and its what makes her unique as a female artist so I can't be mad at that. I kind of wish that the album had more of a unique sound in comparison to her other works but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy listening to the album. It kind of reminds me of if Drake were a woman and released a straight R&B album. Really emotional, raw and honest. I was hoping for more songs like "Comfort Inn Freestyle" but I feel like a song like that comes out at just the right moment and it's hard to force emotion like that for a studio album.
It's one of those albums that you can listen to in the background of what you're doing and it doesn't really get in the way of anything. I wish I could say that I was blown away but I don't really know what I was expecting. The songs all sound extremely similar and tend to blend together, which makes the album flow really well, but it kind of just plays like one really really long song. If you're not actively paying attention, you won't know what song you're listening to, or how many songs have passed.
Overall it was solid and had good vibes but I was unimpressed and bored listening to it.
Notable songs that I enjoyed:
To Love & Die ft. Cocaine 80's
Lyin King
Brave
Pretty Bird ft. Common
Blue Dream
But my opinion means nothing. Listen for yourself.
