Jhene Aiko: A  Case Study on Suicidal Thoughts, Bursts of Inspiration, & Sailing Your Soul

In tribute to all the Neptune transits that we've experienced this past week, I decided to conduct a Case study on one of my favorite Neptunians: Jhene Aiko. The recent Moon conjunct Neptune tranist happened to mess with me in mysterious ways. I already have this placement natally, but it feels like its sensations were only amplified during this transit. I was in a really dark place and I even felt a bit suicidal at points. Luckily, I was able to speak with a few supportive friends that helped me to quickly snap out of it. On a brighter note, my current "low" has inspired me to touch on the sensitive topic of Neptune and its impact on suicidal tendencies. Please note that I am in no way linking Neptune to the cause of suicide. I am, however, exploring Neptune through the likes of Jhene Aiko in order to see if I can successfully correlate suicidal ideation to creativity. This is a very sensitive subject. So please read with caution. Take care of yourself and know your limits. If this is not for you, that's okay. I hope we can connect in a future article. But for those who feel they can handle it, hang on to your seats and sail on.

"Jhene Aiko Efuru Chilombo"

Summary:

"Now my thoughts so cloudy, and my heart's so crowded with pain. I am so frustrated, like my soul's been taken away." These lyrics belong to Aiko's daunting song, "3:16" in which she explores a sea of emotions that nearly lead her to suicide. Jhene is a single mother from Slauson, California who also happens to be the youngest of a large pool of siblings. Jhene's parents divorced at a young age, and so she spent majority of her time with her mother. Her father was an M.D who played the roll of a "rolling stone". However, Jhene was allowed plenty of freedom as a child and spent most of her time traveling and living a "hippy-like" lifestyle. Jhene was thrown into the music industry at a young age as she first performed with B2K during adolescence. After a few years in the industry, Jhene decided to temporarily quit doing music as she felt the need to explore life a little bit more. A while after Jhene got pregnant with her daughter Namiko Love, she decided to pursue music once again as she felt she had been through enough life experience to express her self in a more provocative, intuitive, and emotional way. 

Chart Inspection:

Jhene is very open about her romantic life, and it is no secret that she has been through hell in her personal relationships. In fact, her romantic life has been so intense that she even contemplated suicide at one point. 

Jhene has her rising in Saggitarius. This will certainly make her attractive to the opposite sex as she will appear friendly, beautiful, open-minded, adventurous, and wise. 

In the first house, we find that Jhene has Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune present in the sign of Capricorn. Jhene has spoken on identity issues time and time again. In one interview, she hinted at the idea of having mulitple personality disorder. If you have followed Jhene throughout the span of her career. you will notice that she has a new appearance every couple of weeks, followed by a new state of mind. This is certainly Neptune and Uranus, in the first, at work. On the other hand, Jhene has mentioned that one of the reasons she decided to take a break from music early on was due to the pressure to perfect her appearance. Saturn is exalted in Jhene's chart, making it one her dominant planets. I'm sure that Saturn made its presence felt throughout Jhene's teenage years, and could have easily lead her to seek privacy through attempting to live a more mundane lifestyle.  

In the second house we can find that Jhene has her mars in Capricorn. Although mars does well in Capricorn, having mars in Capricorn in the second shows that much of her energy went towards her career and her finances. This is rather significant as Jhene has had more than her fair share when it has come to finances. Though Jhene is rather secretive in nature, she once told a radio host that she once held an EBT card and was struggling to feed her daughter. In many of Jhene's lyrics, you can hear suggestions about her career as well as her drive towards financial stability. In "Promises" Jhene speaks to her daughter Nami, stating "I've been coming home late nights, I've been sleeping past daylight. I'm waking up you're not by my side. Baby that ain't right. I wanna be there with you." Success certainly did not come overnight for Aiko. 

The third house is an important one for Jhene, as this house holds her north node, her mercury, sun, and moon, all under the sign of Pisces. Jhene was born to be a creator, and she found her path quite early in life. As a lover of knowledge, Jhene makes an effort to share all that she has learned with her loyal followers. A few years ago, Jhene self identified as an "Astrologer" in her twitter bio. Throughout time, Aiko could be found tweeting to fans about her moon and rising sign as well as sharing her take on sexual astrology. Jhene sincerely admires Tupac and has created several tributes to him throughout her career. Jhene views Pac as intellectually inspiring as well as a leader and pioneer for LA natives. Interestingly enough, Pac was a gemini dominant/mercurian, which can be seen in his witty rap lyrics. Jhene's 3rd house stellium also holds some of her greatest pain. Miyagi Chilomob, Jhene's closest brother, died of cancer a few years ago. Miyagi's death has had a devastating effect on Aiko's life, as she looked up to her brother and aspired to be just like him. On the day Miyagi past away, Jhene played him a song that she worked on for him titled "For My Brother". Miyagi's death is also a trauma that has lead Jhene down the path of on and off depression as well as towards suicidal ideation. In many lyrics, Jhene mentions how Miyagi's death nearly pushed her off the edge. And how she even thinks about ending her life just to be with him up in heaven. In her song "W.A.Y.S" Jhene speaks of her brother in this verse: "At 44 minutes to 4, an angel walked up to my door. Opened the windows to my soul, told me that he thinks I should know there's no slowing down. As the globe spins round and round, you gotta keep going."W.A.Y.S is an acronym for "Why aren't you smiling?", which happens to be the last tweet her brother Miyagi could make before passing away. This tweet is also tattooed on Jhene's wrist as it holds much significance. However, this is not the only tattoo that Jhene wears proudly.Tatted on her shoulder is the eighth fold path which has helped her through her battles of the mind. Jhene is a quarter Japanese, which has lead her to a path of Buddhist spirituality. . Through Buddhism, Jhene was able to conquer her darker thoughts while working towards "nirvana"(the end of suffering), the goal many Buddhist strive to achieve. Jhene's passion for learning as well as her heavy Neptunian influence has caused her to be able to share her wounds with the world in not only an emotional manner, but an intellectual manner. Jhene has learned how to intellectualize her pain by finding purpose behind all she has been through, making her a healer and example to all. 

We have touched on very heavy matters in the third house.. but don't worry! It gets better (: Jhene's fifth house is sexy as can be with both Venus and Jupiter resting here. Venus in Taurus combined with mercury in 3rd house in Pisces definitely explains why Jhene has such an angelic voice. This woman was born to seduce the ears of the masses. It seems like Jhene has also been granted access to a vibrant and potent romantic life. This might explain why Jhene seems to reminisce on failed relationships so often. Love may be the very essence of her being. Jupiter solidifies these euphoric feelings by granting her the opportunity to experience love again and again, regardless of how much heartbreak she must endure through the process. Looks like Ms. Aiko may also be a Venusian as well. 

Creeping back into heavier matters, Jhene appears to have Chiron in Gemini on the descendant.. ouch! No wonder her infamous freestyle "Comfort Inn Ending" has become the anthem of every broken hearted girl. It's quite apparent that Jhene's deepest wounds come from her intimate relationships. And due to her private and reclusive nature, we may never know just how much she has been through. Luckily we have a bunch of lyrics in which we can interpret! Jhene is very personable and down to earth. She enjoys appearing as a real and raw person, as she has a desperate need to express herself on have people provide feedback (third house stellium). Jhene has proudly mentioned that she has written every song she has ever performed and that her lyrics are based on real life stories. One of my personal favorites is her song "Remember" in which she touches on her first few stages of pregnancy and having to deal with an uncooperative boyfriend. In the lyrics, Jhene states: "This is the saddest story I have ever heard. Called early in the morning when I got the word. She says that it's his son, he says not at all. Please miss me with the excuses, I am not involved. No not at all." If I were to take an educated guess, I would assume that this is a watered down version of the conversation she had with O'ryan, the father of her daughter, the morning she found out she was pregnant. On another song titled "Beautiful Ruin", Jhene compares a love interest to her father by stating "My father was a rolling stone. I wonder did he miss me? Because he was never home. So I think you could, I think you should be the one. I never really knew love". In another song titled "Brave", all on the same album, Jhene begins the song with heavy lyrics: "Broken hearts are made for two. One for me and one for you. Tell me, have you heard the news? We are now in love. So I guess that I should mention that I am in no condition to put you in this position. I might fuck this up."Most of Jhene's lyrics touch on heartbreak and failed relationships. Most recently, Jhene divorced her ex husband (Rapper and Producer) Dot Da Genius, who she secretly married and remained in a very private marriage with. Only months after the physical separation, Jhene was frequently spotted with her ex boyfriend Big Sean, and the two appeared to be very intimate with each other. This caused much controversy in her career as the public assumed that Jhene had cheated on her husband with Sean, and this was the motive behind having divorced him. Jhene responded by tweeting to the public that her relationship with Dot was genius and lead her to drugs, depression, and suicidal ideation. As Aiko has a history of attracting abusive men, I wouldn't be surprised if this were all true, especially since Aiko has suffered from depression long before the marriage, On top of that, Sean had recently broken up with Ariana Grande, who Jhene had been seen being quite friendly and affectionate towards during an award ceremony. Throughout all the drama and controversy, Sean and Jhene hushed all the rumors by creating a spontaneous album as a duo. The pair named their duo "twenty 88" and added sexy and fun visuals to their album in order to further promote their vision. Shortly after, Jhene came out with a song titled "New Balance" in which she confesses her feelings for Sean: "You came in like a tidal wide. New that I was in love with you right away. Turned my days into brighter days. Even though they say what we doing is not okay. According to what the people say, man fuck what other people say. Imma ride for you baby if you gon' ride for me." Regardless of how Sean and Jhene managed to come about, there is no denying that Chiron in 7th is certainly at work in her natal chart.   

To top it all off, Jhene has her Midheaven in virgo. This certainly explains the care and attention she puts into her craft. Jhene refused to sign to record labels the moment for a while being that she felt that she would have to sell her soul for a contract. This later inspired the idea for her album "Sailing Souls" as she decided to listen to her heart rather than lose herself to the industry. While this act was noble, it certainly toughened Jhene's path quite a bit. Though Jhene did not like the idea of making music under pressure, she found even more pressure in working as an independent artist. Jhene mentioned that she likes to take time with her work and has even pushed back release dates in order to better "hone" her craft. Ironically, Jhene looks up to Beyonce, a Virgo sun, as a source of musical Inspiration. 

Lastly, there's Pluto. Jhene's Pluto is in her 11th house. If you guys have good memory, you will recall that I mentioned that Jhene grew up in a rather large family. Because of this, Jhene has never felt the need to seek and maintain friendship. In fact, Jhene has very few, but loyal friends. Since Jhene identifies herself to be an introvert (which obviously makes her a cat lover, jk), she is someone who happens to become more energized by alone time. Ironically, with Pluto in 11th, I can't help but wonder how much of Jhene's introversion is by choice versus how much is by force. I'm sure this placement doesn't make it easy to make friends. However, I could never forget about the higher octaves of Pluto. Whoever is lucky enough to earn a spot in Jhene's intimate corner must truly enjoy riding the waves as well as engaging in countless adventures and transformations alongside her!

Please Note: Though I did not get a chance to talk about aspects, all of the houses, and the asteroids, I managed to touch on major aspects in order to prevent from writing a thesis, Jhene is an air void and lacks fire. Earth and Water are her dominant elements and she has a stellium in both Pisces and Capricorn! Jhene also has a stellium in 3rd and 1st house, so her aspects are quite easy to visualize.

 < P.S for those of you who have seen my chart, it should be easy to see why I adore her now!>