Back in March, Jhené Aiko liberated her third studio LP Chilombo, which sees 20 tracks and features from Big Sean, H.E.R., Future, Miguel, Ab-Soul, Nas, Ty Dolla $ign, and more. This week, she liberates a new visual for the album opener “Lotus (Intro),” which sets the album’s tone in regards to healing with music:
“There was a woman born from a lotus, her heart was golden, deep as the ocean/
And then this one man, he came and broke it, ‘til it was open, just like a lotus/
Oh, yes, there were explosions, she found her focus, the beast awoken…/”
The animated visual shows Jhené meditating on a lotus flower which is itself on top of a volcano. Eventually, the volcano erupts, and from the ashes is a dragon, presumably symbolizing the “beast” that she references.
Speaking with Ebro for Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio station, Jhené spoke on the her last name, which she chose as the name for the album:
“My father, Karamo Chilombo, he changed his name in his early 20s. My dad is like 76 now, he grew up in that era when… he felt no connection to his birth given name, and so he changed his name. Growing up, it was always hard for people to say, and people would be like, ‘what does your last name mean, where does this come from?’ And I would just be like, I don’t know, my dad changed his name. And I felt a little embarrassed about it. But then I got older, and I started doing my own research, and found out that it was a word in an African language and means ‘wild beast’ or ‘monster.’ And as I got older, and just came into — and still coming into — my womanhood, I was like, ‘I like that.’ I don’t think there’s anything wrong with embracing my powerful side.”
Press play on “Lotus (Intro)” below.