Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (born March 16, 1988), known as
Jhené Aiko or
Jhené, is an American singer and songwriter from
Los Angeles,
California. She embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several
music videos for
R&B group
B2K. At the time, she was known as B2K member
Lil' Fizz's "cousin", though she is not actually related to him. It was used as a marketing tool, suggested by
Sony and
Epic Records, to promote Aiko through B2K and attract an audience. In 2003, Aiko was set to release her debut album,
My Name Is Jhené, through her labels Sony,
The Ultimate Group and Epic, however the album was never released, with Aiko asking to be released from the label in order to continue her education.