Aminé is the king of hooks. “Caroline” was a 2017 anthem. “REEL IT IN” did the same in 2018. His album KAYTRAMINÉ rattled speakers globally in 2023. But his new record, 13 Months of Sunshine, released today? “My main goal was trying a little less to write a good song, and more to write as honestly as possible,” Aminé tells Dazed. “I’ve been wanting to go this hard on representing my culture for a while.”
The rapper’s heritage in the horn of Africa – himself born in Portland, USA to parents from Ethiopia and Eritrea – are worn proudly on this new record. Not least of all is its title, which pays homage to Ethiopia’s long-running moniker ‘the land of 13 months of sunshine’. “The ‘13 months of sunshine’ poster is something that a lot of East Africans will recognise, a lot of us grew up seeing it in our parents’ homes,” the 31-year-old explains. “My parents didn’t have a Van Gogh or a Picasso in their homes, but they had these posters because it reminded them of the home that they had to leave for the American Dream.”
While Aminé’s signature fast-footed flows are still present (case in point: The Streets’ sampling banger “Arc de Triomphe”), 13 Months of Sunshine marks a stark turn inwards, with reflections on work and relationships punctuated by narration from his father. “I had to do something for this family I created,” reminisces papa Aminé in his thick East African accent, whom Aminé recorded in secret during a rare boys’ trip to Oregon. “As an immigrant to this country, I adapted every day – the language barrier, the culture barrier. But you have to face it… I was working my butt off!”
Though this might be the first time that Aminé has gone “this hard” on his culture, this hustler’s mentality has permeated his entire career, almost to his detriment. “This album got me stressed”, the normally jovial rapper confides on “13MOS/My Peoples”, giving a rare window into the effort it takes to produce his seemingly fun-loving persona. “I’m a worrier, I can’t even be on vacation for too long because I start to feel shit about myself,” Aminé explains. “Any person of colour will understand – if you were a broke n***a growing up, you don’t want to go back to being that broke n***a… I kind of explained what I’m saying here on the third verse of ‘New Flower’.”
Aminé did that frequently throughout our conversation – referencing the third verse here, or the second bridge there. It spoke to just how much of himself he has poured into this project over the past few years, and the shift in worldview that accompanied the advent of his 30s. “When it came to this album I couldn’t really just make a song and forget about it, I’ve written and re-written verses until they’re fully imprinted in my head,” Aminé reflects. “As I get older, I think about legacy and the things that are left behind when you’re gone… I’ve become an ‘unc’ for real.”
Below, Aminé speaks on his East African heritage, his relationship with his father, and why this album marks the start of his ‘unc’ era.
Your relationship with your father plays a key role in this record, right?
Aminé: Yeah, it’s my father all over the album. He doesn’t know he’s on the album currently. I recorded him on his birthday, January 25. He said so many things in this two-hour recording, and they just so happened to relate to some of the songs perfectly. I didn’t even trigger him to say those things at all – it was just him rambling. You know how retired fathers are, they always love to reflect.
It was important for me to have his voice on the project, not just because he’s my dad, but also to show America and the rest of the world how an immigrant parent sounds when they’re speaking English. It’s like this mix of broken English and Amharic, our native language. It’s something that’s [incomprehensible] to the rest of the world, but a lot of Habashas and East Africans fully understand what he’s talking about and how he sounds.
So he doesn’t know that he’s on the album yet?
Aminé: [Laughs] Yeah, I recorded him without his consent. My sister was like, ‘He doesn’t give a damn. He’s just going to be happy he’s on an album.’ So, yeah, my dad’s just going to be hyped that the rest of the world will know who he is.
Opening track “New Flower” really manifests these themes of heritage, too.
Aminé: The reason that skit on ‘New Flower’ is important to me is because of the phrase that my father says: ‘Grandfather Aminé’. My grandfather’s name was Aminé and my dad’s last name is Aminé as well. There’s been this thing my entire career of people thinking the name Aminé was made up or it’s a play on anime or some bullshit. People don’t understand that it’s really my birth name, it’s my middle name.
My father talking about Grandpa Aminé and his garden is a really nostalgic moment for me because it’s kind of talking about my own garden and my own life and things I’ve had to go through in order to get where I am today. Another thing that people may not know is that the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, literally translates in English to ‘new flower’.
I’ve been wanting to go this hard on representing my culture for a long time. I feel like I’m at a stage in my career now where it’s the biggest I’ve ever been and it’s the best platform to showcase my culture.
Sounds like you were really dedicated to representing your heritage on the project.
Aminé: I’ve been wanting to go this hard on representing my culture for a long time. I didn’t do it early in my career as much because I wanted people to fully become fans of Aminé and me have the biggest platform to show it on. I feel like I’m at a stage in my career now where it’s the biggest I’ve ever been and it’s the best platform to showcase my culture.
I feel like the “Familiar” video is another great example of that, with the opening skit and all the dancers. Could you break down those references for us?
Aminé: A lot of East Africans were laughing crazy at that skit because that is genuinely how every East African elder feels about anyone they find out is Ethiopian or Eritrean. It’s like ‘That song was pretty good… Oh, he’s East African? That song is actually amazing.’ If you are Ethiopian, there’s this pride that a lot of East Africans feel when they see our people doing anything positive
The choreography was just all these dances from different tribes in Ethiopia, each was from different cultures that usually aren’t mixed together. Me putting them all in the video was to show just how diverse Ethiopia really is.
That reminds me, where does the sloth on the album cover fit into all of this?
Aminé: A lot of people ask about the sloth, which I love. Me and my friend Lucas Kraton shot the cover and I wanted it to look exactly like my aunt’s home, like an Ethiopian home. We were trying to think of what would make this cover a little bit weirder and related to the songwriting on the album, a lot of which is me trying to remind myself that I’m doing the best I can and to be easy on myself.
I feel like the past 10 years of my life have gone by in this huge rush. I’ve been doing shows, releasing shoes, and not really enjoying these moments as much as I should. Now, I’m heading into my 30s and I looked up what a sloth means on Google one day and it literally said ‘a slow-paced lifestyle that’s well balanced.’ I was like, ‘That’s exactly what I want to be!’ We thought it’d be sick to put it on the cover, also just because it looked so freaky. We’d seen this photo of a monkey on its phone in Japan in the snow in a jacuzzi, and so the sloth is just listening to the album on the cover. It’s hard.
If my career fails and everything goes to shit, I don’t really have anything to go back to. It’s what’s kept my work ethic strong, and the only reason I have work ethic is because of fear
At one point on the album you say, “This album got me stressed.” That struck me because it seemed like such a pure and intimate project – was there some pressure with getting it right?
Aminé: I’m a worrier, I’m always stressed out. I can’t even be on vacation for too long because I start to feel shit about myself, like ‘Man, I’m not working enough.’ Europeans love to take August off, that shit’s insane! I know it’s good for you and is probably beautiful but something about my anxiety and my stress can’t handle it.
Wow, you always seem like such an easygoing person to me. I never knew that.
Aminé: I mean, I am that, but also, when you grow older and you come from nothing – I don’t come from money – if my career fails and everything goes to shit, I don’t really have anything to go back to. I’ll be living with my parents in the bedroom I grew up in.
It’s a constant reminder I have in my head. It’s what’s kept my work ethic strong and why I have lasted this long in music, not just because the music is good. A lot of people release a lot of good music and sometimes it doesn’t work out for their careers. I think it’s my work ethic, and the only reason I have a work ethic is because of fear.
I’m trying to square this with “Be Easier to Yourself”, which is you reminding yourself to take things slow. Is that you battling against this mentality?
Aminé: I made ‘Be Easier on Yourself’ when I was really depressed. I was so stressed out that I would just cry. I knew I needed to go on a solo vacation alone, so I went to Hawaii and took some acid and went on DND for a while. I was naked in my Airbnb playing air guitar to Tori y Moi’s album. I was fully tripping balls and I’d told myself I wasn’t going to work but then my close friend and producer Pasqué sent me these piano keys on loop that were the ‘Be Easier On Yourself’ beat and I just wrote that hook.
I went down to the beach coming down off the acid and I was in the ocean literally singing the hook to ‘Be Easier On Yourself’ before I even recorded it. It felt like a big hug. I was like, ‘OK, I need to go finish this song as soon as I get back home’, and that’s how that song came to be.
It’s funny, you started this conversation talking about how retired dads like to reflect. Seems like you’re reaching a similar point.
Aminé: [Laughs] I’m on full unk mode! I’ve become an unc for real. No, I still like to party, don’t get me wrong. I guess the stakes are just higher for me now as I get older. I’m thinking about legacy a lot and the things you leave behind when you’re gone. I know I want kids and I know I got to have them sooner or later, so I just think about what would make my kids proud when I’m writing songs nowadays.
13 Months of Sunshine is out now
