Jhené Aiko continues to collect plaques from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). “Promises” featuring her late brother Miyagi and daughter Namiko is now certified platinum, selling more than one million equivalent units.
The No I.D.-produced track is lifted from Aiko’s debut album, Souled Out, which was released Sept. 9, 2014. Aiko’s platinum award for “Promises” comes two years after being certified gold in April 2020.
In a 2014 interview with Genius, Aiko shared that No I.D. sent her the instrumental for “Promises” via CD. “I just remember hearing it like, ‘Okay. I definitely want to write to this.’ I was just riding around to it. I knew as soon as I heard it like, ‘This is a special song. I wanted to dedicate this to my daughter and brother.'”
Aiko also explained how she got her brother and daughter’s vocals on the track. “There was a T-Pain app. You just sing into it and it turns all your vocals into T-Pain. When that app came out, my brother used to babysit my daughter a lot when I was in the studio and stuff. He would just send me these little voice notes of just him and her singing stuff. He just thought it was hilarious because they were like autotuned all the way out.”
She added, “After he passed, I remember just going through my emails looking for pictures of us and stuff like that and I found those T-Pain things and I was like “oh my god.” So that’s why it sounds a little autotuney but it’s like, we couldn’t take it off because it was the app but it was a nice little touch to bring it all together.
Aiko’s 2013 single “The Worst” has been updated to 4x multi-platinum for exceeding four million equivalent sales units.
The Fisticuffs-produced tune is lifted from Aiko’s debut EP, Sail Out. The EP featured appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Vince Staples and Ab-Soul.
Aiko has been racking up RIAA awards lately. In July, she gained three new certifications, including “Sativa” featuring Swae Lee (5x multi-platinum), “Happiness Over Everything (H.O.E.)” featuring Miguel and Future (platinum), and “Wading” (gold).
Earlier this year, the Lamar-assisted “Stay Ready (What a Life)” achieved platinum status, while “The Pressure” reached gold.
Aiko recently joined rapper Megan Thee Stallion on her song “Consistency” from her latest album, Traumazine. She is also featured on AUGUST 08’s single “Water Sign” from his debut album, Seasick, which was released on Aiko’s imprint ALLEL Sound.
Revisit Jhené Aiko’s “The Worst” video below.
