Song Exploder - Jhené Aiko - Sativa (feat. Swae Lee)

Episode Date: July 4, 2018

Jhené Aiko is a Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter. She’s released three albums so far. In addition to her own records, she’s been a featured guest vocalist on songs by Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Childish Gambino, and many, many others. In 2017, she released her third album, Trip, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard Charts, and includes the song "Sativa." The song features guest vocals from Swae Lee, who’s one half of the band Rae Sremmurd. In this episode, Jhené tells the story of how “Sativa” was made, and how it got stuck, and then, how it got unstuck. She’s joined by producer Brian Warfield of the production duo Fisticuffs, who made the beat. songexploder.net/jhene-aiko

You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishi Kesh Hirwe. This episode contains explicit language. Janay Iko is a Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter. She's released three albums so far, and in addition to her own records, she's been a featured guest vocalist on songs by Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Childish Gambino, and many others. In 2017, she released her third album, Trip, which debuted at number five on the Billboard charts, and includes the song, 6th. Sativa. Sativa features guest vocals from Sway Lee, who's one half of the band Ray Schrimmered.

In this episode, Jenae tells a story of how Sativa was first made and how it got stuck, and then how it got unstuck. I spoke to her along with producer Brian Warfield of the production duo Fistakuffs, who made the beat. My name is Jene Eichol. My name is Brian Warfield. I'm a producer. I'm one half of Fistakuffs. Fistakuffs are Mack and Brian.

They produced my first man. mixed tape and the majority of all of my albums. So yeah, they're my guys. We started with the chords, just the airy chords. That specific sound was like a chord stab that I found. And from there, just pitched it to different keys. With Jene, it's like, that's kind of like the vibe that we said. It's just real airy, smooth. Her vocal tone is just so smooth that it would kind of like to play off that. But at the same time, we'd like to have the bass in there. Stuff that hits, you know, it's kind of like a juxtapose. You have the smooth vocals, but just the grimy beat underneath.

So actually, that was a drum loop that I found. And I chopped it up a little bit, and then I added my own other drums on top of it, too. There's like some snaps, extra hi-hats, just like percussion to kind of fill it in. And then the little vocal sample came in. A lot of times, you know, when you buy a keyboard, they're set with stock sounds that everybody can use. But taking a vocal hit like that and then pitching it. out and turning that into like a keyboard sound. Now it's like you have your own original sound.

And then play for Janine, see she likes it. Whenever I go to the Fistakuff Studio, it's always just like visiting my brothers. Brian was just playing me tracks. And that one stood out because he named it Sativa. And Sativa happens to be my favorite strain of weed. I heard the beat and I was like, definitely I want that. I have to write to this.

But I didn't know what I was going to say. So I did a scratch vocal. I went in and just did a melody. I had no, oh, I had a few words, but really no direction. I wanted it to be really simple and, like, easy. So I said, I'ma keep it simple with you, baby. And then it was like gibberish. Some, some, some, so with you baby.

As soon as she laid the melodies, I was like, okay, good, like, there's a vibe here. And definitely around that time, there was no pressure to finish up a project or put anything out. So that track was something that I revisited every couple of months. Because that's what I like to do. I like to just get the track, play it in my car when I'm driving around so that I can really think of a cool melody, a cool concept. Nothing forced, you know, something that just comes with me that just flows. And I just really enjoyed listening to the track even without me singing on it.

But there's a thing called Demoitis. When you sit with something for so long, sometimes you kind of get stuck. And so it could be hard to step away from that. And everyone would be like, you should just put this out with no words. People could just make up their own words. So I was living with it. And I was just like, oh, like, I'm stuck to this melody, but I don't know what to say. And I pretty much had it for like a year.

Listen to the melody for like a year. And now we're in album mode. I was in the studio with Ameri Johnson. another producer working on another song for Tripped album. And we were just talking about what's missing from the album. And I pulled up Sativa, and he's like, you know who it would sound really good on this? Sway Lee. And I was like, oh my God, that's such a great idea because I'm a big fan of Ray Shimmer.

No flex, soon. No flex, soon. I don't listen to a lot of new music or know a lot of new artists. So when he said that, I was like, oh, I know him. And I actually know their songs, and I really am a fan. From the first song I heard of theirs, I was like, oh, who is this? Just their voices alone, like the tone. They sounded like 12 years old, but I loved it.

They just reminded me of, like, kittens. I know that's weird. I love kittens, though, like, kittens are, like, my life. And so, Amir, he, like, set it up. This was happening at No ID's studio. That's where Swayley came in Medesat. He came in, and then, And then I pulled up Sativa and I was like, this is what I had in mind for you.

He loved it. And he's just like, all right, let me go in there right now. So my expectation was that Swayley was going to come into the studio and like do a verse, like 16 bars. But he goes in and just does like a complete song. He was like, all right, boom, let me get another track. So he pretty much did like three tracks like all the way down. And I'm like, he was freestyling, you know, but it was like, it all made sense. And it was very exciting because I don't work like that.

You know what I mean? Like, I take my time, but he just came in. It was like super fast. From there, I got to select what I wanted to keep of his vocals. We sort of just sort through them and like treat it like a puzzle. Like, oh, maybe this section should go here or no, maybe it should go here. And we like play around with it. And then Brian, he'll chop it up to where it's like a song.

Okay, like now this is the hook and then let's make this the verse. And Swaley essentially came up with the hook. Why you make you so complicated Off the drink we concentrated I know you won't leave me hanging Smoking weed out the container We've been sitting with it for so long That it was nice to just have a new spark to it

He just set the tone Like, okay, we're at a party, it's sexy, we're smoking weed So the first chorus is only Swayley And then the second one, yeah, Janée, puts a harmony on top of Soyli's chorus. So that just gives it a little different vibe. And then the last hook is us going back and forth. We spend cash for entertainment. That's more where that came from, that's all I'm saying

It's me and you and we making arrangements It's you and me and we making arrangements I love his voice and I love my voice But I didn't know what they would sound like together So I was pleasantly surprised when we did the song You know because people have good voices But it's not always compatible with one another That is really cool when you can find someone that

your voices blend really well together. So after Swayley came through, I had a second wind. I was just inspired, really. He gave me a little more direction when I heard what he had put down. I was like, oh, I got it. Is it hot and hit or is it just me? I'm so high and hip and smoking on this week. Told him going to take a shot on three.

Told him drinks. It's on me. And then I got to work in Sativa in my second verse. Sativa is known to have more of like an energetic, creative feel. I am a low energy type of person naturally. So Sativa makes me feel like I want to like sing. I want to write something. And it just gives me some type of energy.

So I was like, oh, I know I should do something a little more rapy right here. You can do it with that sativa. My rapper's spirit, you know just how to keep me up, you know it, better believe it. My rapper spirit just came through, so yeah, I'm a rapper now. You came through with that sativa, and that could be having me stuck, you know just how to keep me up, you know it, better believe it. I'm really specific about how I like my vocals blended, three-part harmony, stack each note, keep it smooth, put a little re-rhyrower. on there. The B section is one of the only parts in this song that has harmonies like that. This part sort of like brings that sexy feel. A lot of the times when I perform this part,

all the girls in the audience are like doing some type of like body wave. Yeah. And I'm like, oh, okay. Like this is what this is giving off. And then after all the harmonies and everything, I do a few ad-lib tracks. 90% of my songs I write completely myself, melody, lyrics, everything. And with my music, I usually am super personal, and it's like a story that has happened, and I'm being, like, extra real about it. But once I'm done with that song, like, sometimes it's even, like, I don't even want to perform it because it's like, oh, I've got that off my chest.

But for a song like Sativa, it was just, like, a completely imagined scenario. And I think that has a lot to do with Sway Lee coming and like swagging it out because I don't really go out to parties and just meet random people and pay for their drinks. Like I say on the song. Off the drink we concentrated. I know you won't leave me hanging. Smoking weed out the container. But I don't think these two characters are.

singing to each other. I think they're at the party with the same intentions and they're both like on the prow on some players shit. It's not a relationship type of song. They came there like as a duo, I think. They might be like competing for like who's going to get the most numbers by the end of the night. It's just two people on the same wave. Spending cash for entertainment. Yeah. We spend cash for entertainment. There's more where I came from that's all on And now, it's me and you and we making arrangements. It's you and me and we make an arrangement. And now here's Sativa by Jenaa Iko, featuring Sway Lee in its entirety.

Yeah. Why you make it so complicated? Off the drink we concentrated. I know you won't leave me hanging. Smoking weed out the container. We spend cash for you. Spend cash for entertainment There's more where that came from that's all I'm saying

It's me and you and we making arrangements It's you and me and we make an arrangement Is it hot in here or is it just me I'm so high and hip and smoking on its weed Told them go and take a shot on three Told them drinks It's on me Yeah, the dreams are on me.

I said now go and take a shot on me. Only drug a bitch, this song is a treat. But I'll last 10 rounds like a freak, like a jeep. We speak. I'm to keep it simple with you, baby. Play no game. It's complicated. Feel for some type of way.

I'm going to throw it. Oh my God, I'm glad you came. You can't do what that's a tiva. Visit songexploder.net to learn more about Jene Iko and for a link to buy or stream this song. I have a new album of my own coming out on April 24th. It's been about 15 years since I last put out of full ink. And this is the first one that'll be out under my own name, Rishikesh Her Way. I started making Song Exploder when I was feeling lost in my own music career.

And then for over a decade, I've gotten to have these incredible conversations about the process of making music, talking to other artists, and it made me completely rethink my relationship to music and my way of writing songs. And this album is the product of all of that. It features contributions from some of my favorite artists, including some folks that you may have heard on this podcast, like Iron and Wine, Kevin Morby,

Vagabon, Fenlily, and the producer Phil Winerobe. I'm going to be on tour playing in cities across the U.S. starting in April, and I'm trying to bring the spirit of the podcast with me. So every show that I'm playing will begin with a conversation about the album with a different amazing guest moderator in each city, like Adam Scott, Samin Nasrat, Jason Manzuchas, Josh Molina, Minjin Lee, Ken Jennings, John Roderick, Austin Cleon, and more. They're all going to be my conversation partners on stage,

and then I'll play with my band. The album is called In the Last Hour of Light, and the first couple songs are out now. You can listen to the music and get tickets for the shows on my website, Rishi-kesh.co. Or just go to songexploder.net slash live. That's songexploader.net slash live. Thanks. If you heard about a sponsor in this episode and you want to learn more, you can always go to songexploder.net slash sponsors to find all of the current offers available to song Exploder listeners. This episode was produced by me, along with Christian Coons, with booking by

Mac Burris and production help from intern Olivia Wood. The illustrations for Song Exploder are by Carlos Lerma. Song Exploder is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of fiercely independent podcasts. You can learn about all of our shows at Radiotopia.fm. Let me know your thoughts on this episode. You can find Song Exploder on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Song Exploder. My name is Rishi Kesh Hereway. Thanks for listening.