Collaborative album’s seem to be the thing to do now. First, it was Watch The Throne then it was WATTBA (What A Time To Be Alive) and then of course Collegrove. Now, It’s been elevated recently with increasing demand for the seemingly improbable Kendrick and J. Cole collaboration. Jay and ‘Ye have shown that two musical masterminds linking together for a collab album can you help accomplish three things: multiple Billboard hits, a platinum album, and a few Grammy nominations. Naturally, the current wave in hip hop is to take a style that belongs to one person, and fuse it together with the the aesthetic of another. The results of success are inevitable. The latest two people who are trying to cash in on this opportunity you may ask? Jhené Aiko and Big Sean.
The rapper and singer announced their project will be titled, TWENTY88. Album art has been released, showing Sean’s face next to Jhenè’s, who is sporting a bob cut orange wig on the cover. What causes more interest is that both stars have changed their twitter bio’s to, “1/2 of TWENTY88,” hinting that a new duo may be in works. Whatever the case may be, we’re ready to be taken on a trip of heartbroken but loving lyrics, and Sean’s braggadocios and witty punchlines.
Two fifteen-second videos have been posted to Twitter, featuring instrumentals of songs that may appear on the album. One video shows Sean and Jhené sitting in a backseat, both glancing at one another and then shaking their heads or rolling their eyes. The other is much more steamy! A robot is recording Jhené in the middle of intercourse, with what we can assume is Sean. If the snippet of videos weren’t enough to drag you in, then the beautiful instrumentals are enough to grab your attention.
TWENTY88 pic.twitter.com/rL8qLsYuDj
— TWENTY88 (@twenty88) March 28, 2016
The songstress and Detroit native previously worked on the songs, “Beware” and “I Know” together, showing that they are a musical match. In an interview with Complex magazine last February, Jhené spoke these words about Big Sean:
“He just has a very good spirit, and he has great energy. Especially now that I’m meeting more and more people, you meet the people that just give you the wrong vibes, or you can just tell they’re so into themselves and it’s annoying. But from the moment I met Sean—he was already famous—and he just had a great spirit, and he continues to be genuine.”
We’re all excited for the release of ‘TWENTY88.’ Check back on Friday – as Jhenè had tweeted the album comes out April 1st – for a musical review and more coverage of project.
~Jahnai Monroe