Single Review: Aminé – Shimmy

Music Critic Sarah Mawson reviews Shimmy, the long-awaited single by Aminé

Written by Sarah Mawson
American and Canadian Studies student
Published
Last updated
Images by Korng Sok

Nine months after his last single, Aminé has returned with a bravado I forgot he had. Acknowledging the hiatus in the first line of the single (‘it’s been a whole year’) he immediately begins to promise big things from the second line, saying ‘let’s not front, it’s my year’. While typical cloud-laden topics such as money, girls, and cars have been Aminé’s bread and butter since his rap career started in 2016, it’s his more introspective lyrics that most fans think of him for as he’s been writing heartfelt messages about mental health and relationships since his first album but these came through strongest on his second album, OnePointFive, in songs such as ‘DR. WHOEVER’ and ‘TOGETHER’.

It’s his more introspective lyrics that most fans think of him for

Following this ‘Shimmy’ comes as a surprise. The beat, sampling Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’, goes harder, the bars are more boasting, as is the music video as it shows Aminé on boats and on top of buildings, carousing around his hometown of Portland, displaying his gold grills. His references to the Ol’ Dirty Bastard track (the two songs share cover art and a raw hook) remind listeners that Aminé possesses the same skill as some of the founding fathers of hip hop, contributing to an entire personality’s worth of braggadocio that comes across in two minutes. If there is an album in the works, fans can only hope it contains this level of energy alongside the inevitably more poignant tracks.

‘Shimmy’ is available now via Republic Records

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