Aminé’s fans have grown used to the Portland rapper popping up when the sun comes out to deliver a sweet platter of summer anthems. Expectations have been sky-high for Aminé after his 2023 collaboration with KAYTRANADA, but 13 Months of Sunshine doesn’t just meet them — it exceeds them.
The third solo studio album from Aminé is more than just sunshine and spritz, as it uses the Ibiza-esque backdrop as a mask for the rapper’s deeper personal reflections. Across five different projects, Aminé has consistently delivered witty lyrics and vibrant production, but has rarely let his guard down – aside from a few flashes like ‘DR WHOEVER’.
The title track, ‘13MOS’, is representative of the album as a whole, split into two distinct halves. One half is fun and energetic, delivering arrogant lines like “I’m a real snob, I need a parfait.” Yet, after an interruption via a sample from Aminé’s dad, the vibe flips into a sparse, airy arrangement with a somewhat eerie Aster Aweke sample.
In the latter half of the song, he sings: “Seven-hundred-thirty days and thirty-two new graves”, alluding to the sacrifices he has had to make in order to create this album and achieve his success.
This level of vulnerability persists throughout the album on songs such as ‘Sage Time’ and ‘I Think It’s You’ where Aminé provides some of his most honest lyrics of his career with a weary, almost confessional vocal delivery to match. He sings: “Depression kicks in its like a drug to me” on ‘Sage Time’.
In the fourth track, Aminé masks his vulnerability and self-deprecation with his typical sunny production, singing about the feeling that he is the person letting him down the most while bright percussion plays in the background.
He sings: “Disappointment in my lungs, regret on my smell. / Doubting what the f*ck I brung to the table.”
This rare exposure of his own feelings from Aminé is carefully woven within the tapestry of this album so as to become inconspicuous with the highs of the other tracks, yet it also highlights that each high that Aminé reaches on this album, there are also lows.
The sampling throughout the album deserves its own separate praise, weaving Aminé’s dad throughout the album in both a cathartic and an advisory role.
At the beginning of ‘Doing The Best I Can’ – a beautifully stripped back track – Aminé’s dad reflects on moving to the USA and making the best he could of the situation. He says: “I have to do something for this family I created, you know? I tried my best possible effort.”
Yet in other songs like ‘Vacay’, his dad becomes pure comedic relief, gleefully saying: “I went back to the same trip. Getting stoned, drink, women.”
With a perfect balance of summer staples like ‘Arc De Triomphe’ with its genius The Streets sample, and incredibly heartfelt tracks like ‘Doing The Best I Can’, Aminé has entered a space that felt previously unfamiliar and uncomfortable for the rapper – enjoyable vulnerability.
13 Months of Sunshine combines the best elements of Aminé’s back catalog, drawing from the wittiness of his debut album Good For You and pairing it with his impressive delivery and flow from his sophomore album Limbo and massively expanding on the hint of emotionality promised all the way back in ONEPOINTFIVE.
With credits going to Buddy Ross, Jim-E Stack and Loukman, 13 Months of Sunshine is also one of Aminé’s best sounding albums, rivalled only by KAYTRAMINÉ. The producers know exactly how to handle Aminé’s vibrancy, and allow him and the illustrious features on the album space when needed, making the album sound like its plucked from the soundtrack of a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game or a ‘90s California pool party.
As the latest entry into his discography, 13 Months of Sunshine is arguably his best work to date, and most certainly his most mature. It is confident, complex and refreshingly human – proof that Aminé is more than just a summer hitmaker. With this album, Aminé steps into his own, balancing warmth with learned wisdom and crafting something that feels easy and effortless but also earned.
Words by Aaron Edwards
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