Aminé
13 Months of Sunshine
"You've grown yourself a flower"
When the singles were initially released, it felt like the instrumentals would be the powerhouse of the album. The beats are always on point, so the question becomes, does he earn the right to be the artist on them? For this album, I say he pulls through.
The quote above are the first lyrics we hear from the album. Right from the start he gets introspective, talking about the work he would put in at the start of his career and how even now, especially with his family, he continues to carry stress and burdens in their stead. He's been constantly tending to his garden making sure the flower he is continues to grow, watering and working hard constantly. But he realizes that water isn't the only thing a flower needs...there's sunshine. The warmth from the sun to remind you that it's okay to take it easy and enjoy some of the success. For Aminé, he needs about 13 months of it.
13MOS is my favorite track of the album. I feel like this song is the compilation of the whole album within. Instrumentals that don't miss, lyrics that you want to understand, and an album that feels replayable. Sure the beat change in the latter half helps, but it feels earned. The latter part actually feels reminiscent of his single Squeeze. This easily could have been a short one-off, but I actually like it combined with the first half of the song.
Before the release of the album, I saw a comment online that said it felt like Aminé has good beats, but just raps about smoking and sex, basic rap shit. And lately, it did feel like that a bit looking back. Yes, he does talk about sex and smoking in this album, but it's not all he talks about this time.
I continue to look forward to what he puts out next.
"And when the sun hits your skin I hope you know you belong where you been"
