Jhene Aiko, born Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo, has released the music video for the remix of her track "Sativa" featuring the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd.
The video opens with Rae Sremmurd's Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi tinkering with a futuristic touchscreen. It appears they are building a humanoid figure after Aiko comes out from a tub filled with red water. She appears next in a steam room before she changes outfit and joins the duo.
The music video alternates scenes between the trio singing their respective verses and the humanoid Aiko enjoying mundane life. She is on the dance floor in some lit party and facing a male contender as she tries her luck on card games. Rae Sremmurd also raps about spending money as they throw some paper bills in the air. Lee also smokes as the track plays through.
The video ends with a twist as it shows Aiko has telekinetic powers. She kills her opponent and grabs a futuristic mobile phone from him. The clip closes with Aiko outlining her ideas for the "Sativa" video in a notebook.
"Sativa" is from Aiko's expansive 22-track album Trip listed on the Top 20 of Rolling Stone's Best R&B Albums of 2017. The original track features Lee as a solo singer. However, Aiko tapped his brother Jxmmi to contribute a new verse in the remix.
Trip is inspired by the death of the "While We're Young" singer's brother in 2012. Aiko revealed that his death greatly affected her emotionally and mentally. The 29-year-old California native said that she turned to psychedelic drugs to overcome her grief.
In a previous interview, she recalled being high on LSD and at the height of a mental breakdown when she drove six hours to Big Sur. There she imagined being at the forest of Jukai in Japan, where people commit suicide.
"I was feeling very emotional and looked up and saw the sun. I was thinking of Jukai while I was there, thinking, 'Wow, this is such a beautiful place and sometimes people decide to take their lives in beautiful places' - maybe not for the scary reason people think but maybe because they feel at peace," Aiko told the Rolling Stone.
The release of the music video for the remix of Aiko's "Sativa" comes after Rae Sremmurd unveiled the video for their single "Perplexing Pegasus." The track comes from the Mississippi rap stars' album SremmLife 3, which comes out sometime this month.