On Sunday night, Jhene Aiko jumped on Twitter to clarify her ethnicities. It later led to a discussion about why she doesn’t say the N-word in her music anymore.
One Twitter user asked Jhene what her ethnicity is, to which the Chilombo singer replied, “Whispers, cat hair, slauson asphalt and sand from venice beach.”
In another Tweet she continued, saying, “I am less black than someone half black, but also less white than someone half white… and asian is the least thing i am. lol. So at this point, it’s whatever they want me to be.”
People were still confused somewhat about what she was saying. Essentially she is less than half-Black, less than half white, and less Asian than both.
She went on to further explain why she doesn’t say the N-word in her music anymore.
“Actually wait! lol. i would like to say one more thing that hopefully simplifies this statement,” she said. “The discussion stemmed from the use of the n word in my music, in the past… and i let it be known i haven’t in a while and chose not to use it anymore moving forward out of respect and consideration to my ancestors and the individuals who feel uncomfortable when i say it.”
“I have a japanese grandfather and a creole/dominican grandmother on my mothers side… and both of my fathers parents are black and white. my dna results came in 25% asian, 33% african and 34% european,” she continued. “So that is what i was referencing in the tweet. also, those dna sites update and change from time to time so who actually knows.”
“Ok now im done explaining, promise i am human and i see you all as family regardless of how u view me,” she concluded.
