New Balance

Jhene Aiko's marriage to producer Dot Da Genius came to an end in August 2016, but their professional relationship continued. He's listed as writer and producer on five tracks on Trip, including this emotional ode to an unnamed love interest. She explained to NPR: "I started writing this when I had a crush on this boy. Then I fell out of the crush with him and I couldn’t finish it. It inspired a great first verse but then I realized I didn’t feel that way anymore, so I wasn’t inspired. Then I found love again and was able to finish the song and really be extra, extra passionate about what I was saying. And the stuff in the first verse also applied to the new love." It is rumored that the new love interest that Aiko is singing of is her TWENTY88 partner Big Sean.

John Mayer has long been on Jhené Aiko's wishlist, but when he did turn up to help the singer with the recording of Trip, she was not at her best. Aiko recalled to Billboard: "Basically, [I had] the flu and they're like, 'Okay, he'll come to the studio today.' I'm like, 'Oh no, I feel horrible.' But I wanted [the session] and was taking it. I kept getting up to go to the bathroom to blow my nose and stuff like that 'cause I didn't want to gross him out, but he was amazing. He stayed for hours and hours just playing guitar riffs and singing little song ideas and stuff like that. He'll record everything. We recorded everything and I just picked out a few guitar licks that I like and built a beat around them. I played him 'New Balance,' which wasn't complete at the time, and he was like, 'Oh, I love it. I want to try something on this song. Can we add a guitar to the end of that song when the beat switches up?' That was an amazing experience."