Jhené Aiko is a contemporary R&B singer/songwriter from Los Angeles who emerged in the early 2000s. After spending her formative years singing backing vocals for B2K, she recorded her debut LP with Epic Records, though the album was never released due to tension with the major label. Aiko split with Epic record and took a subsequent hiatus from writing and recording. She returned in 2011 with a self-released mixtape titled Sailing Soul(s), and found a home with Artium and Def Jam records, who would release her first official EP, Sail Out, in 2013. Aiko finally dropped her debut album, Souled Out, in 2014.