On March 27, a series of cryptic tweets surfaced on the Twitter account @TWENTY88. The first tweet featured a video of Big Sean and Jhené Aiko dapperly dressed, silently sitting side by side in a luxurious car. The next, captioned “TWENTY88,” was an alluring video of Aiko being filmed by some sort of futuristic robot-human. Lastly, an album cover, featuring Sean and Aiko face to face complete with a caption reading “4/1,” solidified the announcement, confirming the forthcoming collaboration album. Oozing with sex, love and the type of emotional lyrics that would leave Drake sobbing over a French press espresso, TWENTY88 is a smooth, slightly-above-average rap/R&B album geared toward radio play.
With a runtime of 30 minutes over eight songs, TWENTY88 follows the storyline of a couple, represented by Sean and Aiko, and the multiple stages of their love affair, from constant sex to arguing to longevity. The first standout track is “Selfish,” in which Aiko and Sean fight over their respective lack of appreciation for each other, leading to a signature Big Sean debatably cheesy, but still entertaining punchline: “You’re acting irreplaceable, pfft, bitch, hardly/ I feel like I chose the wrong bitch like Steve Harvey.” Realistically, it’s the gorgeous bass-booming production that makes the track shine, not Sean’s lyrics that could double as one to six tweets, max.
Aiko and Sean click remarkably well on the conceptual “Talk Show,” which features the two going back and forth analyzing their relationship as if they were on a “Dr. Phil”-type television program. After Aiko calls out Sean for “fucking with them bitches” and “disrespecting” her, Sean ends the song with his most flawless verse on the album, “You’re too undivided/ You’re too undecisive/ You’re too one-sided/ You the type to kick me out the house after I buy it.”
“London Bridge,” the album’s ending track, features Aiko nailing the standout, sultry hook: “But baby if you left, baby if you left, it’ll be a historical disaster/ The kids will sing about it, swear the kids will sing about it/ Like the London Bridge is falling down/ London Bridge, London Bridge.” Yes, the fictional breakup between the lovers would be powerful enough to warrant a new nursery rhyme, as true a testament of love as any.
While the overall sound is pleasant, TWENTY88 fails to produce any sort of track that will have a lasting impact outside of chart positions. The album might currently stand at the No. 1 position for the “Hip-Hop/Rap” genre on iTunes, but it has about the same chance of making a critic’s end-of-the-year top album list as the Sixers have at beating the Warriors in a seven-game series or as Aaron Carter has at being next year’s Coachella headliner (although I would love to see a live rendition of “That’s How I Beat Shaq”).
On songs like “On The Way,” it’s hard not to get tired of Big Sean’s lyrics that basically just sound like rhymed sexting: “Then I chase ya/ Around the bed and then taste ya/ I’m gon’ taste ya/ Yeah I make the reservation, then I give you D/ D for dedication/ Got that bomb pussy it just detonated.”
If you just threw up in your mouth a little bit, well, that’s less concerning than if you hadn’t.
At no point do Sean and Aiko reach the level of chemistry Aiko has successfully accomplished with Vince Staples on “Lemme Know,” possibly because Aiko herself isn’t given much of a chance to use her emcee skills. Instead, each song is rather formulaic; Aiko vocals, some Big Sean background singing, sexual Sean lyrics and the motif of intercourse and the warfare of courtship. While songs like “Selfish,” “On the Way” and “Memories Faded” will surely make their way onto radio airwaves, the album really lacks that go-to banger. Ultimately, Aiko and Sean produce a pleasant sound, but fail to create a memorable project.