Aminé - "Limbo" Album Review
I, like many of his current fans, discovered Aminé through his breakout 2016 smash hit "Caroline", which later landed on his debut project "Good For You" a year later. I loved "GFY" for its carefree attitude, vocally and instrumentally. Aminé throughout the project comes through with clever and braggadocious bars in between infectious hooks all over quirky and tropical pop-rap instrumentals. Occasionally digging into R&B and neo-soul, the album did a great job of showcasing Aminé's versatility, at the slight sacrifice of cohesion and, more often than not, memorability.
Aminé returned a year later with a quick tide-me-over before his next LP release, that being "ONEPOINTFIVE". Despite being the project it was labelled as, I found that record to be arguably more consistent than "GFY". Better beats, catchier hooks, and even an omnipresent guide in the form of Rickey Thompson are all present here. The album glides along at a head-bopping pace with big bass and Aminé's trademark wit to boot. At this point I felt Aminé's improvement was exponential, and was excited to see what he had in store for the future.
Now, in 2020, Aminé back and better than ever with "Limbo", his sophomore studio album and best to date. To me, it takes the aspects I liked from both of his previous efforts and builds upon them. Tracks like "Woodlawn" and "Riri" are melodic trap bangers made unique by Aminé's contagious melodies, reminiscent of tracks off of "OPF".
Aminé once again flexes his versatility muscle on tracks like the album's opener "Burden" and lead single "Shimmy", both of which see Aminé paying respect to hip-hop as classic as it gets, both in lyrical references and flows to instrumental choices and sample chops. Aminé also looks forward and brings some trap bangers to the table like "Compensating" and "Pressure In My Palms", the features on which show just how far Aminé has come in such a short time, linking up with the likes of veterans like Young Thug and newcomers like slowthai. Easily one of the best album cuts is the track "Roots", a woozy, laidback groove that has JID and the legendary Charlie Wilson along for the ride (what a combo).
Lyrically, many of the songs explore the feeling of being in "Limbo". Two cuts on the back half of the album have Aminé open up on some heavy topics, mainly centering on the messed up nature of the modern world. "Becky" sees Aminé discussing the challenges present in an interracial relationship, and has him "fed up" with a lot of the obstacles that come with that situation. "Fetus" is another moody cut where Aminé reunites with rap collective Injury Reserve to unpack the difficult decision of having a child in today's climate, and why that might not be such a good idea. Plenty of other references to the feeling of being in limbo are present throughout the record, from explicit lyrical references in some tracks to underlying themes in others.
While this is a considerable improvement from Aminé's previous two projects, I still feel like his status in the rap game is, fittingly, in Limbo. He hasn't quite hit his stride yet, and I feel like with just a little more tightening up he could really have a classic album. Tracks like the albeit boring Latin-trap fusion that is "Can't Decide" or the salacious but ultimately corny mess that is "Easy" could do with some refining, but overall the album is a fun dive into Aminé's current headspace.
