Whether this is a complete one-off project or if they continue to make music under this duo moniker remains to be seen but for now, these eight songs will tide over the hopeless romantic in everyone." Their chemistry is unquestionable and the music derived from that unique harmony is constantly improving. Scott Glaysher of HipHopDX said, " Twenty88 is a pleasant surprise from two artists who are the top of their respective games. The album received a score of 72/100 on Metacritic.
Twenty88 received positive reviews from music critics.
#JHENE AIKO AND BIG SEAN PROFESSIONAL#
After the release of their debut album, on April 8, 2016, the duo released a short video, titled "Out of Love", exclusively on Tidal.Ĭritical reception Professional ratings Aggregate scores On April 4, 2016, the album was made available on Spotify and Apple Music. It was also available for purchase on iTunes the same day, and shared on other streaming platforms on April 3. Tidal streamed the project exclusively for 72 hours starting on April 1, 2016. On March 31, the two made their television debut as Twenty88 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing "Selfish". That tweet was retweeted by both Sean and Aiko and said the album would be released on April 1, 2016. After posting the short videos, they tweeted a picture of the album cover and wrote, "4/1".
They also both edited their Twitter bios to say, "1/2 of Twenty88", suggesting that Aiko and Sean formed the duo. Both of them changed their profile pictures to the same one shown on the account of Twenty88, an album cover that shows Sean's face next to that of Aiko, who is donning an orange wig. The first clip shows both artists sitting in the backseat of a car, and the second shows Aiko being filmed by a robot while she is likely in the middle of sexual intercourse with Sean. On March 27, 2016, Big Sean and Aiko created a Twitter account for Twenty88 showing two videos promoting the album. The magazine described the song as, "the most sexually explicit song" on the album. We've created these characters that are extensions of ourselves, it's highly sexual." In the interview with Flaunt, it was revealed that K-Ci & JoJo would be featured on the song, "Two-Minute Warning". Both me and Sean are super into fantasy-driven movies and so combining stuff like robots and sex, that pretty much sums us up. It touches all these things, but it sounds very cohesive. It gets turned up, then it gets melodic, then it gets vibed out. As a whole, Twenty88 is a departure from each artist's individual sounds. It also mixes neo-soul, ambient beats, and trap drums courtesy of producers like Da Internz. According to Uproxx, the album conjures 90s R&B and 70s experimental rock and soul. Big Sean and Aiko explained what fans could expect on the project. On March 28, 2016, it was revealed that the album would feature the productions from Key Wane, Detail and Tommy Brown. Tidal essentially provided the backing for the project so that Sean and Aiko would not pay for it themselves. In 2020, Sean talked about how the labels did not back the project despite the chemistry with Aiko and already popular songs they had together. It's a 70's aesthetic, but we're in the future." They drew from various influences: Blaxploitation films, James Bond, as well as Ex Machina. Especially a whole project is just good for people to see. I feel like this project is something that's needed right now. Aiko stated: "Music now doesn't really cater to the feelings of a real relationship. For the cover story, they talked about the origin of the duo Twenty88, and their vision for the album. On March 29, Sean and Aiko appeared together on the cover of Flaunt to promote the album, Twenty88. According to a press release from Tidal, the album tells the story of the highs and lows of a relationship, with insights into conflict, memories, love, and sex. The Los Angeles singer and the Detroit rapper previously collaborated on the songs " Beware" (with Lil Wayne) from Sean's second album Hall of Fame (2013), as well as "I Know" from Sean's third album Dark Sky Paradise (2015). On March 28, 2016, Big Sean and Jhené Aiko announced that they were forming a duo, called Twenty88.