Jhené Aiko - My Name Is Jhené (2003)

Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo was born on 16 March 1988 in Los Angeles, California, but the family moved to Baldwin Hills when their home burned down when she was seven. She embarked on her musical career contributing vocals to several B2K releases, as well as performing on a song on the soundtrack of the 2002 film 'The Master Of Disguise'. During this time she was known as the cousin of B2K's rapper, Lil' Fizz, though she is not actually related to him, and it was actually a marketing tool suggested by her labels Sony, The Ultimate Group and Epic Records, to promote her through B2K and attract an audience. She also appeared in numerous music videos including O'Ryan's debut video 'Take It Slow', B2K's debut video 'Uh Huh', and Morgan Smith's 2004 video 'Blow Ya Whistle', as well as having songs featured on the soundtracks of 'Barbershop', 'You Got Served', 'The Proud Family', and 'Byou'. In 2003, when she was just 15 years old, she released a video for her single 'No L.O.V.E', and she was set to release her debut album, then-titled 'My Name Is Jhené', later that year, but it was never released due to tension at the record label Epic, which ultimately led to Aiko asking to be released from her contract. Once the labels agreed to her request she went back to school to continue her education, and it was to be four years before she made a return to music in 2007, and another four before she released any new music. By this time her cancelled album was behind her, as she was now 23 years old, and a record made when she was 15 would not be an accurate representation of her music, but it's certainly a fine example of her early work, and so here it is for you to hear.

Track listing

01 My Name Is Jhené (Intro)

02 No L.O.V.E.

03 Gonna Love You Anyway

04 Boy

05 Down 4 U, Part II (feat. Lil' Fizz)

06 Wanna Be

07 Promise Ring

08 Rowdy

09 You Don't Know Me (Ft. Smooth)

10 Pain
11 What I Need
12 Won't Play The Game
13 Cherry Pie (Interlude)
14 Angel
15 Deja Vu
16 Don't Walk Away
17 You Got Nerve
18 Dog (feat. Lil' Fizz)

As we now have an actual track listing fir this album, I've rejigged the running order, but am unable to add the tracks 'Sorry' or 'Make Believe' as they aren't out there. However, I have added 'Gonna Love You Anyway' which was originally missing, so we now have as much of the original album as possible, plus nine bonus tracks.