The Run That Back series is a deep dive into some of music’s most popular or underrated projects. Whether it’s been 5 years or 50, there’s never a wrong time to ‘run that back.’
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It’s been 5 long years since what many considered to be an April Fools’ joke from Jhené Aiko and Big Sean actually turned out to be one of the greatest R&B duos/albums of this past decade. Consisting of eight flawless tracks of 808s and R&Bae, the 30-minute LP fluidly glides through the various facets of a relationship.
Starting with “Déjà Vu,” and how it details what it feels like to keep discussing the same ol’ s***. Sean highlights sex as the reason to stay, while Jhené’s verse shows how sex is her power, boldly starting with “I run this.” This serves as a perfect segue into “Selfish,” a track where Sean leads and explains feeling distant and tapped out. He runs through all he’s done for his partner, but now? “You know [he] ain’t having that s***.”
“On The Way” is the classic tale of yearning, which leads to the peak of the album and the relationship with “Push It” and “2 Minute Warning.” “Push It” is like sippin’ on dark liquor while setting the mood with “Johnny Gill, Vandross and Sade, and Goapele.” It’s smooth yet aggressively sexy. Jhené lays out all the places where she wants “to feel it in [her] soul” and Sean elevates the track by allowing fans to visualize his words. It’s… hot.
Yet, that buildup is nothing compared to “2 Minute Warning” featuring R&B legends, K-Ci and JoJo. It is where all the tension is released through a climax aka a two-minute warning. This was one of, if not, the first time Sean and Jhené explicitly detailed their sex life on a collaborative track. Though, at the time, they weren’t in a confirmed relationship with each other. In an interview with Flaunt Magazine, Sean explained, “some of these verses on here are for sure about specific people and times [but] I don’t know if Jhené was singing about me on any of the songs. Grinning, he continued, “I don’t know if I was singing about her on any of these songs either.” Flaunt says, “there’s a long silence. Sean and Aiko’s eyes lock. Soon they both erupt in giggles, each looking away coyly, caught in the act of mutual attraction.”
The album slides into “Talk Show,” a heated argument taking place during a late night, talk show interview. It mimics a celebrity couple who may have problems behind closed doors, but put up a facade in front of the public until that explosive point of no return. Jhené raps, “Don’t act like just a couple weeks ago you wasn’t f***ing with them b****es/Out here, disrespecting me/I mean you know I f***ed up too…” To which Sean replies, “how we supposed to face our problems/If we can’t even face to face it, the f***.” The album ends with “Memories Faded” and “London Bridge,” two tracks about exactly what you’d think— the downfall of a relationship. “Memories Faded” is that moment when you’re almost out the door while still being emotionally invested in the relationship. Yet, “London Bridge” starts off somber, comparing the end of the relationship to the actual falling of the London Bridge. “I don't mean to sound hysterical/But baby if you left, baby if you left/It'll be a historical disaster…,” Jhené sings.
TWENTY88 was a mix of ‘90s R&B and the experimental soul from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Plus, the Lawrence Lamont directed-visual brings everything to life where the pair portrayed “adult film stars” in a ‘70s aesthetic, but with a futuristic twist. Jhené expressed, “we’ve created another world. Both me and Sean are super into fantasy-driven movies and so combining stuff like robots and sex, that pretty much sums us up [...] we’ve created these characters that are extensions of ourselves.” Furthermore, as stated by Flaunt, “given the advent of text-to-toy capabilities, the future of romance and sexuality is only getting more robotic (and more inventive).”
With TWENTY88, we were given alternative versions of the artists we know and love. It’s fun, unpredictable and keeps us wanting more. Hence why fans demand the TWENTY88 sequel every chance we get. In recent years, they have released singles under TWENTY88 on their individual albums— “OLLA (Only Lovers Left Alive)” on Jhené’s Trip, “Same Time, Pt. 1” on Sean’s I Decided, and “Time In” on Sean’s Detroit 2. Back in September, Sean expressed that “collaborating with [Jhene] is one of the easiest things ever” and has mentioned that the highly-anticipated followup to TWENTY88’s eponymous debut is “in the works.”
We’re just ready for them to stop playing in our faces. We’ve been ready.
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