Big Sean and Jhené Aiko are one of music’s most publicly private couples. People often question if they’re in a romantic relationship still because of their best friend-partner-coparenting dynamic.
The TWENTY88 collaborators were born in the same year, one week apart and it often appears like they were kindred souls.
However, on Wednesday (July 31), Sean came through as a not-so surprise guest at Jhené’s Magic Hour Tour. In a viral clip, he’s performing “Beware” and raps, “Kept my phone on silent ever since you got a ring, funny, right?” Jhené quips, “What ring?” as he gently swats her hand and she jokingly rolls her eyes.
Days later, Sean was in conversation with Charlamagne Tha God for his Out of Context podcast and opened up about why he and Jhené aren’t married after roughly eight years of dating on and off.
He first confirmed that he and Jhené didn’t secretly elope and noted, “It’s a little personal, you know what I mean? But just like to be real with you, just like any people who have dealt with love, we’ve had our ups and downs, you know what I’m saying? And I think it’s still finding the right navigation through it all.”
Sean believes “marriage symbolizes like the best relationship,” and that marriage is “almost a fear-based way of thinking,” but isn’t closed off to the idea of marriage. He continued, “I would like to, and I don’t like putting our personal business out there like that either, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.”
In light of this, VIBE breaks down Sean and Jhené’s relationship from friends to collaborators to lovers to co-parents.
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2012: Big Sean and Jhené Aiko meet and have their first date
Image Credit: Johnny Nunez/WireImage Big Sean met Jhené Aiko at a party hosted by producer No ID, per Flaunt Magazine.
“It was just very comfortable,” Aiko noted of their initial interaction. Despite reportedly having a boyfriend at the time, the two went on a date to a Lakers game.
“I didn’t care,” Sean teased. “It was pretty obvious after a while it was a date. We had never really been alone together. It was really fun.” The next day, she did clarify that they weren’t dating.
Aiko continued, “I tweeted, ‘I’m not dating Big Sean LOL.’ And then Sean got mad at me like, ‘You gonna play me like that?’ I’m like, ‘But we’re friends!’” He liked that they were both serious and silly.
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2015: Jhené Aiko stars in Big Sean’s “I Know” video
Image Credit: Big Sean/YouTube Though still friends, Aiko starred in the visual for their collab, “I Know,” from his album, Dark Sky Paradise. The two appear as an elderly couple who are still young at heart, just like their love. They shared a kiss at the end.
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2016: Their joint album, ‘TWENTY88,’ drops
Image Credit: Donato Sardella/Getty Images for MOSCHINO During the promotion for their joint album and new group — both titled TWENTY88 — Jhené and Sean were quite cozy. That spring, they were seen holding hands and kissing. She was married at the time, but filed for divorce that August citing irreconcilable differences — which had nothing to do with Sean.
In since-deleted tweets, Jhené explained that her ex-husband, Dot da Genius, “jumped ship” long before they officially divorced. “He wants to be victim and I’ll let his b**ch a** assume the role,” she tweeted.
Sean then gushed over his relationship with Jhené to Billboard saying, “Jhené is more than just a friend. I don’t know how else to describe it — me and her are just cool like that. I love her and I know she loves me. I was down to make that commitment [to be in a group together] — something that will last and be different from the rest.”
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2016: Sean and Jhené confirm relationship with onstage kiss, first public outing as couple
Image Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Deckers Brands/Teva That June, they performed at Power 105.1’s Powerhouse festival and shared a brief peck.
By December, after Jhené was a single woman and formally divorced, she and Sean attended a Lakers game.
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2017: Jhené calls Sean the “love of her life”
Image Credit: Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images for Def Jam Recordings In an interview with Billboard when discussing her album, Trip, Jhené declared Sean to be the love of her life.
When she lost her brother Miyagi in 2012, she embarked on a journey to find herself and someone who reminded her of him — it was then that she met Sean. The singer explained, “When I met Sean, I had a boyfriend and he was showing interest in me, but I was like, ‘I have a boyfriend.’ But we were friends, it was never, nothing disrespectful ever happened between me and Sean. We were forced to really, really get to know each other on a friendship level, you know what I mean? And to the point where he was even at my brother’s funeral. We talked to each other on a friendship level throughout all of my relationship.”
When they both became single, their relationship became romantic. “It just came to a point where it was like, ‘I’m single, you’re single, we love each other.’ We actually already loved each other as people and then it was like, ‘Okay, let’s just, you know, be together.’ So it was different because of that friendship. That comes first, we’re friends before anything,” Jhené noted.
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2017: Jhené tattoos Sean’s “perfect” face
Image Credit: Miryam “The Witchdoctor” Lumpini/Instagram; Thaddaeus McAdams/FilmMagic One week after finalizing her divorce, Jhené made her declaration of love permanent when she tattooed Sean’s “perfect” face on her arm. She also referred to him as a “baby angel.”
Celebrity tattoo artist Miryam “the Witchdoctor” Lumpini captioned the photo, “Art is love. Thanks Jheńe for allowing me to share this moment.”
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2018: Jhené covers Sean’s portrait tattoo with a dragon
Image Credit: Niceguy/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Even though rumors swirled about a breakup, Jhené defended her decision to coverup her back tattoos with a fiery dragon and addressed the controversy.
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“Sometimes you don’t want to follow ur boyfriend/girlfriend on social media.. if it weren’t for u crazy blogs and ur speculation I would follow and unfollow him twice a day, everyday… [it’s] not that serious… I see him enough in real life and on my arm,” said the singer on social media.
As far as the tattoo is concerned, she explained, “NEW ART! NO BEEF! ALL LOVE!” and explained that she “covered ALL my tats w/ a big a** Dragon w/ a Phoenix wing” to represent “breathing life and light into a new galaxy.”
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2019: The two seemingly reunite for Sean’s “Single Again”
Image Credit: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images In July 2019, Sean released “Single Again” that featured Jhené on background vocals.
She supported the record on social media, which led the rapper to respond, “I appreciate you supporting me on this one and I want to just say I love you unconditionally. You amazing, talented, every song we do special to me! People gon say whatever but it is what it is. I could have txt u this I know but I want people to know I appreciate you.”
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2020: A miscarriage that was “None Of Your Concern”
Image Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Christian Dior After tapping Jhené for “Single Again,” she called upon her musical partner for her single, “None Of Your Concern.“
Some speculate that he rapped about their breakup, but he definitely spit bars about their sex life, rapping, “I made you c*m nine times in one day/ Your two lips should come in a vase, you rode my face/ I realize you look as good as you taste […] I guess that’s none of your concern.”
He then revealed that they suffered a miscarriage in his song “Deep Reverence” as he rapped, “Probably why this s**t with me get crazy and we lost a baby.” Sean confirmed that with Sway Calloway.
They formally linked up as a couple for Sean’s “Body Language.” In the video, they paid homage to classic Black romances like Love Jones, Waiting To Exhale, The Best Man, and Poetic Justice.
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2021: They attend the Grammys together
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for FENTY PUMA By Rihanna The couple showed up for one another as a unified front at the 2021 Grammys. Sean was nominated for Best Rap Performance while Jhené was up for Album of the Year, Best Progressive R&B Album, and Best R&B Performance.
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2022: They announce they’re expecting their first child
Image Credit: 2020HHA/Getty Images via Getty Images) Jhené was spotted with a baby bump in early July 2022 and news that she and Sean were expecting was confirmed shortly after.
“The couple is overjoyed and looks forward to this next chapter,” a source told news outlets. It was Sean’s first child and Jhené’s second.
When gushing over the announcement, the rapper wrote on his Instagram stories, “Whole new motivation forreal! Very grateful God continues to bless us, Thank You. Can’t wait to be a Dad.” The singer confirmed the news by posting a childhood photo of her holding her stomach.
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November 2022: They welcome their son, Noah Hasani Chilombo-Anderson
Image Credit: Courtesy of Def Jam Noah Hasani Chilombo-Anderson was born on Nov. 8, 2022. His parents shared news of his birth 10 days later.
Paired with a picture of his son holding his finger, Sean wrote, “After 24 hours of Labor, A Lunar Eclipse, with rain from the beginning of labor til he was born, he’s here safe and sound. Happy, Healthy and everything we could ever ask for and more. Any and everything for you Son.”
Jhené took to her own page writing, “After 24 hours of labor, a total lunar eclipse, and while it was pouring rain… he came. my baby Yoda, my Sani.”
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2023: Parenting tributes, couple ceases breakup rumors
Image Credit: Michael Bezjian/Getty Images On her first Mother’s Day as a mom of two, Sean honored the mother of his child.
“Seeing Jhené be such a great Mother makes me appreciate motherhood even more,” he wrote on Instagram. “Makes me appreciate my Mom more too cause it’s a lot i never even thought about until seeing first hand wit my boy all the love, time, patience and sacrifice that goes into being a great Parent, its unreal. We love you @jheneaiko.”
For his first Father’s Day, Jhené shared glimpses of their life as a family of four.
A few months later, fans noticed they’d unfollowed each other online and she shared some cryptic posts on her Instagram including one that read, “The guy who has u explaining the meaning of empathy is not ur soulmate.”
However, Page Six confirmed that they didn’t break up.
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2024: Big Sean details why he and Jhené aren’t married
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for FENTY PUMA By Rihanna Sean appeared on Charlamagne tha God’s Out Of Context podcast on Aug. 2. He confirmed that he and Jhené didn’t secretly get married, and said the reason they haven’t jumped the broom is “a little personal.”
“Just like any people who have dealt with love, we’ve had our ups and downs, you know what I’m saying? And I think it’s still finding the right navigation through it all,” said the rapper.
Sean feels “marriage symbolizes like the best relationship,” but that marriage itself is “almost a fear-based way of thinking.” Yet, he remains open to getting married even though he doesn’t like “putting our personal business out there like that either, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done […] I can only speak for myself that there needs to be like more work done so we could keep going.”
He continued, “There’s a lot of focus on our family, there’s a lot of focus on careers and everything, and [marriage] is something that I feel like has not been the main focus.” He and Jhené have an almost two-year-old son, Noah Hasani, and the singer has 15-year-old Namiko Love with her ex-boyfriend, O’Ryan Browner.
