Anyone within earshot of a party from 2016 to now has heard “Caroline” or “Red Mercedes” by Amine. Despite his instant mainstream success one can be hard-pressed to find a fan that knows any of his discography beyond those two aforementioned tracks.
This has allowed Amine to transition into the underground/independent section of rap occupied by acts such as Injury Reserve and JPEGMAFIA and Rico Nasty. Although the route of mainstream success to independent acclaim might not be the route most artists prefer to travel, it seems to have worked out for Amine.
This road-less-traveled has allowed Amine to hone his craft and become an artist capable of dropping quality-verses consistently – such as his guest verse on “Jailbreak the Tesla” and his track “Shimmy.” This made it all the more surprising when Amine dropped “RiRi” – an obviously mainstream song attempt (not a bad one). It was surprising and almost out of place given his recent musical output. This made for a very reserved anticipation when he announced his album “Li mbo.”
Those reservations proved to be unfounded. “Limbo” is not only a quality project – it is a diverse one that any modern artist would benefit from having on their resume. The takeaway from “Limbo” isn’t Amine doing anything the best – but simply that he is doing so many things so well. When “Caroline” was released in 2016, that wouldn’t be thinkable.
Not only does Amine dip his toe into the R&B and soul genres, the themes and production on “Limbo” are placed in such a way that it genuinely feels like going through a slideshow of Amine’s personality.
“Limbo” also highlights another skill that Amine seems to have gained – the energy that challenges guest artists to elevate their features. This is one of the few albums I have listened to recently that doesn’t have a bad feature. Summer Walker, Vince Staples, Slowthai, Charlie Wilson, JID and Young Thug all bring the energy on their features. Injury Reserve being featured on the penultimate track is also of note as it might be one, if not the last, feature with Injury Reserve frontmen Ritchie with a T and Groggs together as Groggs lost his life tragically some weeks ago.
Despite all the positives the album has, it’s not perfect. The downside of an album that features so many different styles is that it is so easy for a listener to lose interest in the album beyond their favorite tracks. For instance – a fan of the track “Shimmy” might lose interest at the track “Roots.” This issue can also lead to the album overstaying it’s welcome for a few listeners. “Limbo” also raises the question of whether this is Amine’s peak or him finally starting to realize his potential. I hope it’s the latter, but the jury is still out.
With 2020 being 2020, it’s good to see that music is the one thing that’s easy to rely on for some good. Amine helps contribute to that with “Limbo.” “Limbo” gets a: 7.75/10.
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]