On The Way

This is a track from Twenty88, the debut EP by rapper Big Sean and singer Jhené Aiko. According to the release notes, the record, "tells the story of the highs and lows of a relationship, with insights into conflict, memories, love, sex, and more." Sean and Aiko really did have something going, as you could surmise from the intimate album cover. They dated until about 2019 when they broke it off, but a few years later they got back together, and in 2022 had their first child together, a son named Noah Hasani.

Big Sean told Flaunt the recording process was fairly easy, as their chemistry made for effortless work in the studio. "It was usually just me, Jhené, and the engineer," he explained. "I had a lot of the raw ideas, and she would build them up. But it was pretty natural and organic."

Key Wane supplied the beat. The Detroit producer has worked extensively with Big Sean in the past, including the rapper's previous collaborations with Jhené Aiko, "I'm Gonna Be," "Beware" and "I Know." Wane knew about Sean's Twenty88 project a long time before it went public. He told MTV News: "I heard the idea about them becoming a group a long time ago — it had to have been a year, a year-and-a-half ago. I thought that s--t was really tight, because no one was going to see that coming. He started playing me records that was getting cut, and I was giving him beats. Around the (2016) Grammys, I made this beat, for 'On the Way,' and I could hear that n—a all over it. I played it for him and he was like 'Damn, this s--t hard!' Two days later, it was cut. Jhené was on there going crazy."