Never Call Me

Jhené Aiko's marriage to producer Dot Da Genius (best known for his many collaborations with Kid Cudi) came to an abrupt end in mid-2016 after 11 months. Here she details her attempts to move on from the relationship. Aiko explained to NPR: "I wrote this at the height of a very public breakup, so I was feeling a way, for sure. And I'd just taken some mushrooms, so it was like an exaggerated feeling. I know that a lot of girls, or people, period, feel that way: 'Don't talk to other people about me; just talk to me. We're the ones that were supposed to be in this relationship. Now I'm hearing things and people are asking me what I want them to do. You need to call me because I can't control what my older homies are thinking of the situation."

The song features rapper Kurupt on the outro. Aiko explained: "I'm a big fan of Kurupt, being from Los Angeles. He came out and performed 'Ain't No Fun' when I was at Coachella. When I was on the High Road Tour with Snoop Dogg, Kurupt was on the tour and everyday we would talk. He became my real-life uncle. And he was with me when all that stuff was going on [about my relationship] on the blogs. It was just a lot of negativity coming my way, and he literally had that conversation with me."

Aiko released two videos on March 20, 2018 to accompany the single release, with two different takes on the same theme. Explaining her decision to make a double dose of visuals for "Never Call Me," Aiko explained to Refinery29: "I just love this song. I have a lot of different layers to my personality and I love getting to express those layers through my visuals." The first video finds Aiko back in her hometown of South Central, L.A. hanging out with pals such as Nipsey Hu$$le, Lauren London, Dom Kennedy, Hit-Boy, Casey Veggies. The songstress doesn't seem to be missing her ex preferring the love she receives from her close ones. "I love where I'm from. I put on for my city as often as possible," Aiko told Billboard, regarding the choice of location. "I visit my neighborhood as often as possible. I talk about my neighborhood a few times in the song, so I wanted to show people where I'm from and introduce my fans to the people I love... my family and the people I grew up with." The second clip finds Aiko portrayed as the Japanese Shinto goddess of creation and death. "I'm really big on drawing inspiration from the different cultures I'm mixed with," the songstress, who is quarter Japanese, told Refinery29. "This is my interpretation of Izanami no mikoto." At the end of the second video she acts out a funeral for her ex's ego. Aiko explained, "The funeral is for a man I knew personally. A man who lost his way. This funeral is the funeral for his ego. In this visual, I portray the goddess of creation and death, coming to collect his poor spirit and set it free."