Aminé’s Limbo: Album Review

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Aminé is an artist that I have never really been a huge fan of. In all honesty, I hadn’t listened to any of his albums in their entirety until Limbo. Limbo is Aminé’s second studio album, and in it, he explores the deepest most confusing parts of his life, while maintaining a very lighthearted tone. By the time the album is finished, it is clear what the artist’s main idea was, that being; the messy, complicated, and confusing aspects of a quarter-life crisis.

The album starts with the track “Burden” in which Aminé raps about his coming of age over a high-pitched guitar pluck. This song talks mostly about growing up, and how Aminé and his peers are far from doing so. The next song “Woodlawn” was one of my favorites from the album. In this track, Aminé pursues a more melodic rap style while still staying true to the lyricism shown in his previous discography. In this song, he discusses his hometown (Woodlawn Park) and how far he has come from when he used to live there. This song serves as a way for Aminé to reflect on his accomplishments and reminisce on the times when he was striving to make it in the music industry.

The next track “Kobe” is an interlude, where Aminé speaks openly about how the basketball superstar’s death deeply affected him and served as a sobering moment of self-reflection. This theme of self-reflection is carried onto the next song “Roots”. The classic rap style of this song juxtaposes its main message, in that the song itself focuses on topics that are anything but classic. The track serves as an exploration into the concept of roots, not necessarily as the foundation of one’s character, but how people grow and evolve as a means of survival.

From here, the album begins to delve deeper. On “Becky” Aminé explores the complications that come with being in an interracial relationship and discusses heavy issues such as microaggressions. He describes an impossible situation, where neither person in the relationship can fully understand the challenges that the other is facing. Similarly, on “Fetus,” he explores the ethics of having a child with his significant other in a world that’s becoming increasingly unpredictable. He starts off by discussing the difficulties of raising a child in a world filled with racial tension and violence, but finally realizes that the love shared between a father and his child can overcome all of these obstacles.

Sadly, this is where the album begins to lose its momentum. Whereas all of the previous songs have surrounded the idea of growing up and maturing as a person, these next songs fail to provide the same level of introspection. The songs “Riri” and“Can’t Decide”, for example, frankly sound frivolous when compared to the albums earlier tracks. Additionally, the Latin vibe of “Can’t Decide” seems out of place when sandwiched between songs that sound nothing like it.

Nonetheless, this was still a great album. The issues that Aminé touched on were very relevant, and I felt that the general sound of the songs was exceptional. All in all, I enjoyed Limbo very much, and it has motivated me to listen to some of Aminé’s earlier work.

Favorite Tracks: Woodlawn ~ Compensating ~ Shimmy

Least Favorite Tracks: Mama ~ Riri

Overall Rating: 8/ 10