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Where is Jhene Aiko from? Jhene Aiko is from Los Angeles, California, where she was born to Christina Yamamoto and Dr. Karamo Chilombo on March 16, 1988. Aiko refers to her ethnicity as “Japanese, African American, Native American, etc.,” though the multi-talented R&B singer refuses to be defined by such things. She also refuses to play by other people’s rules. Signed to Epic at the tender age of 12, she made her name singing hooks on B2K tunes. She was slated to drop her debut album as a teenager, but amid label drama, she decided to go back to school and wait it out.

For that reason, most pop music fans probably didn’t begin asking, “Where is Jhene Aiko from?” until 2011, when she dropped the “Sailing Soul(s)” mixtape. The collection featured collaborations with such superstars as Kanye West, Drake, and Miguel, and the following year, she signed with No I.D.’s Atrium Records, a Def Jam imprint. That same year, Aiko toured with Lauryn Hill and Nas, and in 2013, she sang on Big Sean’s Top 40 hit “Beware.” In November 2013, she issued her debut EP, “Sail Out,” which featured team-ups with Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Childish Gambino, among others.

Where is Jhene Aiko from? She’s from Los Angeles, but as she says on her Facebook page, she “escaped the made up world of Hollywood to experience the natural beauty of the real world.” She’s also made friends with a lot of high-profile artists. Her impressive list of collaborators includes Drake, J. Cole, Logic, Schoolboy Q, Wale, and Common, and in May 2014, she’ll step into the limelight she’s long deserved and drop her debut album, “Souled Out.”

Before long, the question, “Where is Jhene Aiko from?” will most likely be on many more listeners’ lips, as this beautiful and talented singer and mother is going places.

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