Aminé - Limbo

August 7, 2020 - Republic

Pacific coast musician Adam Aminé Daniel has arrived with his sophomore studio album, Limbo, a follow-up to the in-betweensy mixtape ONEPOINTFIVE. Aminé has been on our radar for seemingly forever, though in reality it’s only been a few years since ‘Caroline’ graced our collective consciousness; time flies when the world’s ending.

Limbo gets right to getting. ‘Burden’ announces this project as a “Black album” a la Shawn Carter as Aminé lays down bars about racism in and around his life growing up and in the past several months on top of a lackadaisical beat and haunting vocal sample from Darondo’s ‘Thank You God.’ The energy picks up a bit for ‘Woodlawn,’ Aminé easing into his comfort zone with some half-beat cadences and sharp rhyme schemes. Writer/actor Jak Knight steps in with a brief interlude on the death of Kobe Bryant and how that event has served as a pivotal loss of innocence to a young Black person, a theme that reverberates throughout the project. 

Charlie Wilson and JID join Aminé for ‘Roots,’ a historical and coming of age tale juxtaposed with a biology lesson with plenty of plant puns; “The sun is on me, let me grow.” ‘Can’t Decide’ slides in next, ticking all the early 2000s hip-hop love ballad boxes as it drips down the speakers: Spanish guitar chords, numbers counted one at a time, visions of grandeur and riches next to despair and grief. The beat is tight here; love is complicated. The complicated feelings seep into ‘Compensating,’ a joint effort between Aminé and Young Thug that explores humans’ messy attempts at understanding one another, within the romantic sphere specifically. The contrast between Aminé’s softer verses and Young Thug’s sharper deliverance plays nice with the spooky beat from producer T-Minus. 

The lead sample ‘Shimmy’ is next, a unicorn of a homage track that’s able to seamlessly interpolate bits and pieces from Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s seminal ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ while still coming off strongly as its own piece; the youth stands tall on the shoulders of the past, but hasn’t every youth and every past? Everything that can be has been, nothing is true; everything is permitted; etc. Calling back to ‘Burden,’ the beat here moves at its own pace, allowing Aminé plenty of room to speed up and slow down bars to great effect. There’s a lot of texture here, samples and synths coating the walls but not taking center stage. 

‘Pressure in My Arms’ unites Aminé and Northampton's slowthai with Vince Staples for a group jaunt through the dark streets of mean lines and feeling cool. The track starts a little grimy, a head-bopping beat with a simple sine bass, but eases up considerably for Aminé’s verse toward the end. Jak Knight leads the exit, saying “There ain’t no money in havin’ hate in your heart/I know very untalented people with a lot of love in their heart who are doing great.” Back to the quagmire of love with ‘Riri,’ though the message is clearer here: Aminé gave this individual too many chances (3!), things don’t get easier, I still have a Nissan. Former collaborator Summer Walker comes back with ‘Easy,’ perhaps a spiritual precursor to ‘Riri.’ The pair croon on about the highs and lows of physical and mental relationships people put themselves through for various reasons, “the sex is still compatible/But I ain’t got no manual for trustin’.” Yeah, I guess. There isn’t as much chemistry between the artists as their previous joint efforts, and the result is jarring when put up against most of the rest of the project.

Aminé follows this very non-mother approved piece with a track dedicated to his mother. ‘Mama’ explores the more intimate side of the artist’s psyche, though Aminé is not one to put up a real hard front in the first place. That’s not to say this track isn’t sincere, but it doesn’t have the contrast that these parent-forward pieces sometimes have. Charlie Wilson steps back into the booth to sing “Mama” a few times for good measure, and the track ends. Next comes ‘Becky,’ jumping into the uncomfortable world of interracial relationship(s) Aminé has experienced. Overall the piece steps back into the realm of ‘Easy.’ It’s a deep enough topic, but the treatment feels more of a surface level scraping than a real look inwards. There are relatable moments here, (“I’m fed up with a world that I know I can’t change” “I’m fed up with your fam, you fed up with my fam”), but overall it falls a little flat, especially with the overall sentiment of giving up on the relationship because of being tired and not worth the effort/risk. Also, Becky, really?

‘Fetus’ raises the bar back up with a strong collaboration with trio Injury Reserve. The track explores the ins and outs of young love, and the young pregnancies that often follow. It’s a more intimate piece than we’re used to from these four artists, eliciting a sort of negative nostalgia for days past, “We paid cash, rip up the damn receipt/’Cause mama got my account, that shit she can’t see.” The feature is made more impactful due to Steppa J. Groggs, who I believe was the only father of the group, having died unexpectedly in June. Jak Knight once again delivers a powerful outro:

I think we are just so used to life not being valued

That we think wasting it on kindness is a bad idea

You should be gettin' money

You should be fuckin' hoes

You should drive fast cars

And then you realize that you, sometimes, you get those things

And now you're just a nigga with those things

'Cause it's like, well, what's next?

And it's like, well, I never tried a grapefruit by itself

And now you're just a nigga peelin', like, eatin' a grapefruit

And you're like, "This is nice"

With sugar in it and you're like, "Why is this nicer than my Ferrari?"

Aminé brings the ending of the project with ‘My Reality,’ tying the themes of peace and dreams and life and love together. Sampled vocals woven together form the core upon which Aminé stacks these sentiments, light and airy percussion adding lift and positivity to the room. All in Limbo is a progression on all fronts for Aminé. The work here shows a wide breadth of moods, styles, and topics, all of which Aminé navigates comfortably and with purpose, “livin’ a dream that still isn’t done yet.” 🍍

Listen to Limbo on Spotify. Aminé · Album · 2020 · 14 songs.