Jhene Aiko & Swae Lee's "Sativa" Is R&B You Can Smoke To

The hazy duet finds the collaborators rolling up and making arrangements.

BYTrevor Smith
Link Copied to Clipboard!
42.7K Views

"You came through with that sativa / Indica be havin' me stuck," sings Jhene Aiko on her new Trip duet with Swae Lee. Judging by the features on the album, which Jhene released as a surprise to fans Friday, she's as particular about her collaborators as her weed. Outside of her father Dr. Chill and daughter Namiko Love, Aiko has enlists two vets of their respective lanes, Kurupt and Brandy, her boyfriend Big Sean, and finally Swae Lee, to help define her sound. Swae has demonstrated his versatility as a hook man not only on Rae Sremmurd's material, but also across a few recent features, including the dancehall-inflected "Unforgettable" with French Montana. On "Sativa," he's brought into Aiko's murky R&B world, which is not too far off from something like SremmLife 2's "Now That I Know." The song finds the two "smoking weed out the container" and "making arrangements." In many ways, it embodies the spirit of the album Jhene explained in an interview with Playboy earlier this year. "[It's] inspired by every type of trip you could imagine: mental, physical, even psychedelic," she said. "I’m at a point where I put it all in the music. It’s a puzzle I want people to put together."

Aiko recently released a short film accompaniment to the album, which explores some of Trip's central themes. She further explained the concept in a mission statement released last week, explaining how losing her brother Miyagi to cancer in 2012 inspired the project. “My brother and I were very close. We were only two years apart,” she said. “I never thought of him as a separate person, but an extension of myself. He was my reflection. In his presence I was confident and always so sure.”

You can stream Trip here.

Quotable Lyrics:
Is it hot in here or is it just me?
I'm so high in here, been smokin' on this weed
Told 'em, "Go on, take a shot on three"
Told 'em, "Drinks is on me"
Yeah, the drinks are on me
I said now go and take a shot on me
Only drug a bitch is on is the tree
But I lasted ten rounds like a freak
Like a G



  • Link Copied to Clipboard!
About The Author
<b>Features &amp; News Writer</b> <!--BR--> Trevor is a music writer currently based in Montreal. Follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/trevsmith_" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a>.