Jhené Aiko Announces New Album 'Westside Whimsy,' Arriving Friday

Jhené Aiko announced her new album Westside Whimsy on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with a Friday, Sept. 11 release date — a three-day gap between announcement and arrival that leaves little room for buildup and none for a long rollout. Billboard

The 38-year-old singer shared the news on Instagram, posting the album's cover art with the caption "Westside Whimsy (THE ALBUM) out Friday." The cover features a photograph of Aiko crying crystal tears. Billboard

The title track, "Westside Whimsy," was originally released as a single on July 16 and now lends its name to the full project. Instagram

The album's inspirations are rooted close to home. Aiko told a wellness event she hosted in April that '90s music and her home state of California shaped the project — specifically West Coast car culture, surfing, and the beach. Billboard

The album title had been hiding in plain sight for months. In January, Aiko partnered with the Los Angeles grocery store Erewhon on a custom smoothie called "Westside Whimsy," which Billboard now reports was a quiet nod to the album she was finishing. She had first teased the project in 2025 under the title The Westside Whimsy, and in June of this year a Vibe profile tied to a fine-jewellery collaboration with Awe Inspired confirmed an album was on the way. Vibe

A full tracklist has not been officially confirmed. Genius lists the album under the stylised title WE$TSIDE WHIM$Y with a tracklist marked unconfirmed, compiled from recent singles, snippets and song titles gathered from various sources. Genius

Westside Whimsy is Aiko's first full-length album since Chilombo, which arrived in March 2020. That record debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 — the chart that ranks the most-consumed albums in the US each week, combining physical sales, digital sales and streaming equivalent album units, the measure that converts plays into album sales — and earned a Grammy nomination for album of the year. Billboard

More than six years separate the two records. For fans, the wait ends Friday.