Album Review
June 18, 2025
13 Months of Sunshine Album Cover
Forget Hot Girl Summer or brat summer, it’s been Aminé summer every year since he dropped “Caroline” in 2017. The vision is so clear: the sound of cicadas, an Aperol Spritz in one hand, sunbathing under an azure sky, the smell of summer. This is where you’re at when an Aminé song comes on. A one-way ticket to a colorful, positive, and vibrant destination that has you light on your feet – that is, until the nostalgia kicks in. This album jumps from one emotion to another. One second we’re sipping on our cocktails in the scorching sun, the next we’re choking up tears as we dive into beats colored by introspection.
Beyond the Portland-born rapper’s contagious, happy-go-lucky music lies a distinctive visual identity. A warm, banana-yellow hue has been his signature since his first studio album Good For You, infusing his art with undeniable energy. His attention to creative detail in his merchandise and music videos contributes to the construction of his universe. The result is a vibrant and kaleidoscopic frenzy that makes you wonder whether you’ve entered another dimension.
Sitting down with Pigeons and Planes, Aminé made it clear that 13 Months of Sunshine is a move to create a “positive legacy” for himself, representing him as a good person who knows how to have a good time. In painting this legacy, he revisited his East African roots. Like Ethiopia’s (old) tourism slogan, which gave his album its name, Aminé told Zane Lowe that the catchphrase, “13 Months of Sunshine,” reflected everything he wanted this project to be. Aminé said on Instagram live that this album is an invitation into “your average day in the life of someone just tryna figure things out.”
“New Flower!” is the perfect opening track. For first-time Aminé listeners, it’s an introduction to who he is as an artist and to his journey up until now. For seasoned fans, it’s a familiar Aminé sound that also takes the time to nod at his sophomore album, Limbo’s first title, “Burden,” as he slips in a “Bury me before I’m a burden” in there. It’s also a new chapter of his story that has been shared. We’re introduced to a focal character: Baba (Father) Aminé, the voice of all the skits in this album. He appears in other songs like “Raspberry Kisses,” offering advice on finding the right one, and in “13MOS,” he recalls his experience as an immigrant coming to the United States. The song sets the tone for the rest of the album as an ode to his culture and history, with the translation of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, giving the first song its name.
“As an immigrant, I came into this country
Adapting it every day, the language barrier, the culture barrier
Everything, but, you have to face it
I've been working my butt off, haha, you know?”
– Aminé’s father in “13MOS”
If I had to pick one title from the album to represent it, “13MOS” is an easy choice. The track incorporates both the life-of-the-party atmosphere and the cultural, personal storytelling that weaves this album together. The Ethiopian influence in Aminé’s music has never been clearer, and while he has never been shy of speaking up on his roots, this album adds depth and dimension to his work through noticeable musicality, cultural wear, dances, and overall representation as seen in the “Familiar” music video.
“Doing The Best I Can” and “Be Easier On Yourself” came as a surprise after the upbeat first half of the album; they creep in as a change in momentum, filled with vulnerability and encapsulating the experience of a first-generation immigrant. The portrayal of this identity is central to this album and Aminé’s past works, echoing sentiments of working hard and the fear of failure, especially considering the sacrifices made by ancestors past. In a life that can sometimes feel so chaotic and fast-paced, looking out the window during transits is sometimes the only time you can get to reflect, hence the movie-like “It is what it is, my babe, how windows make you cry.” Flights are the ideal time to reminisce on past relationships, too, and that’s what “History” is all about, as Aminé mourns a past love.
With the release of three singles before the official album drop, his fire streak of summer tunes painted out a very French Riviera-esque image of what the album would be. One thing’s for sure: Aminé knows how to stroke a French person’s ego. He’s recounted flying out from Paris in “Twisted!” and the time he “bought two chairs in the south of France” in “NEO.” But this time around, he’s titled a track after the monument that sits at the world’s biggest roundabout, l’Arc de Triomphe. Upon listening, it’s understandable why Aminé chose not to include it on TWOPOINTFIVE. Although it would have successfully blended in with the hyperpop influence that dominated his previous mixtape, “Arc de Triomphe” definitely reaches new heights, placing it in a tier of its own.
The French touch doesn’t stop there – he later dropped “Vacay,” which samples French singer Yamê’s “Bécane” and transforms it into a lighthearted, addictive tune that voices a sentiment all of us have throughout the week: I want to go on vacay.
On May 28th, Aminé announced the dates for his “Tour de Dance,” a tour name that references the Tour de France, a yearly cycling competition and one of the oldest and prestigious ones at that.
The album feels like a blend of all of his past works, with songs like “Feels So Good” and “Temptations” that remind me of TWOPOINTFIVE, and even his collaborative project with KAYTRANADA, KAYRAMINÉ. This project is a testament to Aminé’s ability to bring his culture to the global scene and connect to a wider audience where borders blur and cultures collide, making it both about an experience that can be universal but also uniquely his.
13 Months of Sunshine is more than your soundtrack for sun-soaked days and sunset drives; it’s a celebration of heritage, growth, and the bittersweet beauty of memory and nostalgia. Each track of this album invites the listeners to dance, reflect, and do all of this alongside him. The spirit of Aminé summer knows no temporal bounds; it’s a state of mind that encapsulates the embrace of culture and the identities we carry with us all year round.
If you enjoyed this article, sign up to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn to stay up to date with Gen Admission 🎶
