Souled Out

Souled Out is the debut studio album by American R&B recording artist Jhené Aiko, released on September 9, 2014 by Def Jam and ARTium Recordings. After leaving Epic Records in 2003, Aiko took a hiatus from her music career and returned in 2011, with the release of her debut mixtape Sailing Soul(s). After raising her profile with the mixtape, Aiko met with record producer No I.D., and subsequently secured a recording contract with his newly found record label imprint, Artium. Following her record deal, Aiko immediately began working on the album; during the recording process, Aiko released her debut EP Sail Out (2013), to bridge the gap between her mixtape and the album.

Souled Out is an PBR&B album with a diverse musical style that incorporates psychedelic music, R&B, neo soul, hip hop and elements of electronica. Its songs are loosely structured and feature electronic guitar sounds, synths, drums, and atmospheric noises. A concept album, Souled Out features the evolution of a woman's heartbreak before becoming enlightened, the album features lyrics that revolve around relationships, life lessons, philosophies and truths. Aiko served as the albums executive producer and wrote the albums lyrics, she contracted four key producers to contribute with production and help create a cohesive sound.

An anticipated release, the album was released to commercial and critical success. The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 70,000 copies doubling the first week sales of her debut EP; the album also debuted at number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and US R&B Albums. Upon its release, Souled Out received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended its production, lyrics and themes.

Background
In 2003, Aiko released a video for her debut single "NO L.O.V.E", when she was 15 years old. Aiko was set to release her debut album, then-titled My Name Is Jhené, however the album was never released due to tension at the record label Epic, which ultimately led to Aiko asking to be released from the label. She then began to focus on school and continue her education.

Following the birth of her daughter, Aiko began to make her return to music in 2008 and began meeting with labels. In 2011, she released her debut mixtape Sailing Soul(s), which was received well by critics and was certified gold by mixtape-sharing website Datpiff, for downloads of 100,000. In 2012, Aiko met with No I.D., record producer and vice president of A&R at Def Jam Recordings, who ended up signing Aiko to his Artium Records imprint through Def Jam, Aiko revealed that she has signed to Def Jam] via her official Twitter account. Following AIko's signing to the label she released her debut Extended Play Sail Out (2013). The EP was met with positive reviews from critics and debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 34,000 copies in the United States.

Commercial performance
Two singles were released from the album—"To Love & Die (song)" was released on June 24, 2014, as the lead single from the album and features Cocaine 80s, the song peaked at number forty-six on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts and eighteen on the Germany Deutsche Black Charts. The album's second single "The Pressure", was released on iTunes on July 18, 2014. The Pressure debuted at twenty five on the US Hot R&B Songs chart, and peaked at twenty three, the following week.

The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 70,000 copies in its opening week, in doing so the album became that weeks second highest debut and doubled the first week sales of Aiko's debut extended play Sail Out (2013). In its third week of sales, the album dropped down to number thirty, selling 11,068 copies, bringing Souled Out total to 101,645 copies. On the week of October 8, 2014, the album sold 7,812 copies bring the albums total sales to 109,457. The album sales continued to diminish over the following weeks falling to number forty seven selling a further 5,871 units and falling again to fifty five selling 5,704 copies. As of October 29, 2014, Souled Out had sold 125,315 copies in the US.

Tracklist
Deluxe Edition Tracks

Souled Out – Target exclusive and UK edition

Music credits

 * Jhené Aiko - Primary Artist, A&R, Art Direction, Art Producer, Composer, Design, Executive Producer
 * Chris Atlas - Marketing
 * Ron Avant - Keyboards
 * Svein Berge - Composer
 * Darrell Branch - Composer
 * Torbjørn Brundtland - Composer
 * Stephen Bruner - Composer
 * Leesa D. Brunson - A&R
 * Jim Caruana - Engineer
 * Maddox Chimm - Mixing Assistant
 * Clams Casino - Producer
 * Cocaine 80s - Featured Artist
 * Common - Featured Artist
 * Claire Courchene - Cello
 * Casey Cuayo - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
 * Tyrone Davis, Jr. - A&R
 * Brinton Ewart - Composer
 * Briton "Woodro Skillson" Ewart	 - Additional Production
 * James Fauntleroy - Composer, Vocals (Background)
 * Fisticuffs - Engineer, Producer
 * Dot Da Genius - Producer
 * Curtis Jackson - Composer
 * Maximillian Jaeger - Assistant Engineer
 * Jaycen Joshua - Mixing
 * Liza Joseph - A&R
 * Ryan Kaul - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
 * Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton - Mixing
 * Ketrina 'Taz' Askew	 - Executive Producer
 * Rob Kinelski - Engineer, Mixing
 * Dave Kutch - Mastering
 * Paul Lane - Package Production
 * Chris Le - Art Direction, Art Producer, Design, Package Production
 * Sam Lewis - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
 * Tai Linzie - Package production
 * Lonnie Lynn - Composer
 * Brittany Mansfield - A&R
 * Nate Mercereau - French Horn
 * Miyagi - Featured Artist
 * Namiko - Featured Artist
 * Ross Netko - Assistant Engineer
 * No I.D. - Executive Producer, Producer
 * Oladipo O. Omishore - Composer
 * Frederick Perrin - Composer
 * Tom Peyton - Percussion
 * Christian Plata - Engineer
 * James Poyser - Keyboards, Piano
 * Noah Preston - A&R
 * Kevin Randolph - Piano
 * Luis Resto - Composer
 * Mac Robinson - Composer
 * Gregg Rominiecki - Engineer, Vocals (Background)
 * Donnie Scantz - Engineer
 * Ben Schwier - Organ, Piano
 * Keni St. Lewis - Composer
 * Tricia Sterling - Marketing Coordinator
 * Josh Story - Engineer
 * Derek Taylor - Percussion, Timpani
 * Thomas Lea - Viola, Violin
 * Michael Law Thomas - Engineer
 * Thundercat - Bass, Producer
 * Crystal Torres - Trumpet
 * Keith R. Tucker - A&R
 * Anna Ugarte - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
 * Juan F. "Jef" Villaluna - Guitar
 * Michael Volpe - Composer
 * Key Wane - Producer
 * Brian Warfield - Composer, Engineer
 * Dwane Weir - Composer
 * Ernest Wilson - Composer
 * Steve Wyreman - Bass, Bells, Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer
 * Courtney "Millimoto" Yamamoto - Photography