Jhené Aiko had worked out the kinks — likely unnoticeable to most fans — of The Magic Hour , her first tour in seven years and her first-ever arena run, by the time she sold out Barclays Center in Brooklyn this month. (In fact, all the dates on her 13-stop headlining trek have sold out.) Aiko has been a staple among R&B’s moodiest, freakiest, and wanted-to-fight-you-but-decided-to-meditate-instead listeners since her 2011 debut mixtape, Sailing Soul(s) .
She staked her claim to modern R&B while being a young mother to now-15-year-old Namiko, and her nearly two-year-old son, Noah, whom she shares with longtime partner Big Sean. Both children are along for the ride this summer, accompanied by much of her immediate and extended family. Her Barclays show brought more women of color to an arena than I had ever seen before, each of us singing her hits like “The Worst,” “PU$$Y Fairy (OTW),” and “Triggered” at the top of our lungs.
The night ended with a blast of silvery confetti (“That was the first night that we had confetti,” Aiko tells Rolling Stone ) and Aiko sharing motherly words of encouragement — we should get home safely, we should take care of one another. “I think it’s beautiful that we can alchemize our pain and suffering into moments like this,” Aiko, draped in a translucent gown with long sleeves like wings, told the crowd. “Please make sure that you get some sleep tonight, drink some water.
Please make sure that you love one another.�.
