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Is Jhene Aiko Black? Multi-racial to '30% Black' comments, Internet is divided on her ancestry

Even though Jhene Aiko was born in Los Angeles, her mother and father come from different backgrounds and the talented vocalist was raised in different places

Jhene Aiko, whose full name is Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo, is all set to collaborate with her long-time on and off boyfriend Big Sean on a new album. The American rapper, who just celebrated the success of his new record ‘Detroit2’ apparently revealed in an interview that he is working with Aiko on a new album. According to the Twitter handle @AlbumTalks, the new project will be a sequel to their 2016 collab album 'Twenty88'."

The moment the news broke on the Internet, Aiko started trending on Twitter which somehow led to the discussions on whether the singer-songwriter is Black or not? Now, if we check her official Wikipedia page, we do get some information about her ancestry and lineage. The 32-year-old American singer has mixed ancestry.

Even though Aiko was born in Los Angeles, her mother and father come from different backgrounds. Aiko is the daughter of Christina Yamamoto and Karamo Chilombo, a pediatrician. Her mother is of Spanish, Dominican and Japanese descent while Aiko’s father is of Native American, African-American, German-American descent. Interestingly, Aiko has Jewish lineage through her father. Her parents divorced later.

The talented vocalist was raised in different places such as South Los Angeles, Slauson Avenue around View Park–Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills and Ladera Heights.

The debate about  Aiko’s race got a fiery response on Twitter. One social media user said, "What people are failing to realize with this jhene aiko situation is that she is multiracial and not just bircacial. She’s a different blend of African, Asian and European. As you can see her ancestry isn’t 50% of anything...she’s a little bit of everything.” One follower shared, “Jhene aiko is not black. She does not look full black she is obviously a mixed woman. What’s so hard about calling mixed women mixed? Grouping mixed women with black women leads to the erasure of actual black women in the music and movie industry. Jhene is tri racial."

Further discussing the matter, one Twitterati said, “Having some black in you does NOT make you black...Jhene is not a black woman and I would not want her to represent black women.” Another user added, “I get what you’re saying, and although everything you’re saying may just be true when I say a black experience I mean this when jhene driving on the freeway she don’t have to be worried about being pulled over by a cop, While Alicia might on the other hand.”

One user said, “Incorrect. Both of Jhene's parents are mixed race. The people you mentioned has one fully Black parent. There is a difference. Jhene, herself, does not even identify as Black.” Another user gave a statistical figure about Aiko’s race and said she was 30% black. “Jhene is 30% black why do y’all like the one drop rule so much? What black women do know you looks like her?”

If we talk about Aiko and Big Sean, the duo has collaborated on several projects. Some of their most popular tracks are ‘None of Your Concern,’ ‘Body Language,’ ‘I Know,’ ‘Single Again’ and ‘Beware’. The fans are eagerly waiting for their new project and so are we.

Watch this space for more as we will keep you posted with the updates.