Source: Steven Ferdman / Getty
Back in August, Jidenna had all our Ankara panties in a bunch when he announced he was “looking for wifey.”
In a tweet, the 85 to Africa artist broke down his relationship expectations and revealed he was on the hunt for the one.
Now it appears the sultry singer has backpedaled on these claims. During a recent interview with Essence, he told the Yes Girl! podcast hosts that despite his tweet, he knows that he doesn’t have the bandwidth for a relationship right now.
“This album is me being more open than I’ve ever been, and I’m just getting started,” he explained. “That was part of it. During the ‘Classic Man’ era, I was closed. I did not trust. I already had my own trust issues just coming off previous relationships [and] my parents’ relationship, because it was not healthy. So, I was like, ‘nah, I’m not going to date.’ You start just re-dating exes. Then there’s an expiration date at a certain point. So with this campaign, I want to be open. That was me talking to myself and putting it out there. Sometimes you forget [while tweeting], ‘you’re sharing this with everybody in the world, buddy.’ But it’s cool…that’s how open I am now. I wouldn’t say it’s a hunt. It’s me accepting it if it comes.”
Sigh, well there you have it. He also said that despite his public activity (getting twerked on all over America while promoting his album), he isn’t entertaining a lot of romantic connections right now.
“I like connection, but the time’s not there,” he said. “I don’t want to say I don’t have it, but I’m not going to make the time right now. Not in the middle of 85 To Africa. Maybe in between albums. The tough part is artists have to be in stock more than ever now and you have to push out content. Creatives do, period. You have to crank out so much content and you’re so available because of the phone. All those things make it really hard for anybody to date. And you’re so swipeable now that you might like, ‘eh, I just didn’t like the little bump behind her earlobe.’…it’s ridiculous now.”
In the meantime, the 34-year-old is working to undo some of his previously held beliefs about femininity.
“The thing that I’m always trying to rewire is the bits of misogyny and sexism that still exist in me every day constantly,” he says. “If it’s not in me and I see it in another man, I’ll have to educate [him] and clear it out at a certain point. I’ve fired so many men over the years. I work with a lot of women on the team, and I don’t want an environment where women don’t feel comfortable. That kills everything I stand for.”
