After releasing lead single “Caroline” to critical and commercial success, Aminé follows it up with Good For You, an album with just as much joy and bounce as the aforementioned song.
The album is filled with songs to bop to as Aminé narrates stories from his life in a relatable way, making his tracks with an undoubtable sing-along quality that is perfect to blast on a roadtrip or a banging house party. The opening tracks “Veggies” and “Yellow” serve as great introductions to the style Aminé sticks with throughout the album, with simple beats, quirky synths and sing-song rhymes that are infectious when paired with the charming lyrics. Lead track “Caroline” is the definite climax of this album, unparalleled it its ability to make a whole room dance and shout the start of the chorus: “Killa / Westside N***a.”
The playfulness in the album toys around with the rap genre, usually filled with heavy beats and fast rhythms. He even references how no one exactly knows who he is in track “Hero,” with sound bites of people getting his name wrong and talking about his “one song on YouTube,” before making a strong statement with opening lyrics “Respect / That’s all I ask for.” The playfulness peaks right at the middle of the album, with “Wedding Crashers” starting with a xylophone sound. The lyrics’ topics are standard fare in rap, as Aminé still talks about sex, money, and women, but he talks about them in a youthful way, giggling at the thought like a young boy. This quality is very evident in “Spice Girl,” where he references the British pop group Spice Girls to describe the kind of woman he wants.
All of Good For You’s tracks are lyrically rich, injecting humor and storytelling to every line and delivering the message Aminé wants to convey in each song–though you might get too busy jamming to the beats to actually listen to what he’s saying. In track “STFU,” for example, it’s easy to get lost just waiting for the catchy chorus to come on when the lyrics of the rest of the song are genius. This can easily detract from the album’s quality, but it just makes each track more complex and replayable.
Aminé has also made himself a prime artist to collaborate with, letting the artists that feature in his album shine with him so perfectly. Migos’ Offset is in such sync with Aminé on “Wedding Crashers,” making the song sound like it could come from either artists’ repertoires. Kehlani and Aminé’s chemistry on bonus track “Heebiejeebies” is amazing, mixing Kehlani’s silky R&B with Aminé’s whimsical rap.
Good For You is definitely an album where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, producing tracks ready to release as a single but not creating a truly cohesive album. In spite of this, any time an Aminé track comes on, it’s sure to hype up the party. Aminé has definitely made a statement with this album, but he still has a long way to go.