Admittedly... I've been sleeping on new releases, BIG TIME. Albums worth checking out this year seem to have been scarce. Though Jay dropped, Kendrick dropped, and Eminem is (rumored to be) releasing right around the corner, hip hop has been a little bit dry this year in terms of the big established names dropping, but one up and comer from Portland, Oregon is attempting to change that "up and comer" title to household name fairly quickly. His album Good For You had seemingly dropped out of nowhere and suddenly grabbed blogs by the throats with fun and vigorous enjoyment (kind of ironic how that works, isn't it?). The album's lead single "Caroline" has already been certified 3 times platinum by the RIAA, peaked on Billboard's Hot 100 at number 12, and even found Amine a record deal with Republic Records. See the damage a song can do nowadays? Oh, the age of the single. However, single success does not impress me anymore seeing as anyone and their mother can do it nowadays... So what does this mean for Anime's Good For You? Was it indeed Good For You? I'll be breaking down a few of the high points of the project, below.
Hip Pop - It's Okay To Have Fun!
For so long I've bashed the one-track-minded (quite literally) artists of today that all sound the same and seemed to promote the same goals; platinum singles, auto-tuned filth and enough syrup to give Aunt Jemima a heart attack WITHOUT sipping any of it. But Anime's Good For You is a gasp of fresh air, almost completely drowning in the syrup before I'm able to sneak a nostril up and above the Codeine infested waters that are today's hip hop climate. Anime puts fun in every lyric, bouncing around on beats as if he'd just invaded a rich kid's birthday party and claimed first dibs on the bouncy house ("Hero", "Yellow", "Wedding Crashers", etc.). The "Wedding Crashers"' instrumental feels like you're dancing with Elmo and Big Bird all down Sesame Street with the rest of the kids off the block, and even Oscar's grouchy ass joins in (oh yes, it's that mood-inducing). His ode to the Spice Girls ("Spice Girl") is another fun one to reminisce to 90's pop to; the pure piano keys in the bridge build up to a gleeful flute followed by some lively drums that add the extra pop needed to round out the record.
Serious Undertones Darkly Shadow A Fun Loving Amine
On the surface, Good For You is a dancing field of daisies, an album that you'd pop in while wandering through a field of flowers with no worry of tomorrow. The lightheartedness and delightful weirdness of Amine is showcased in an ultimately stress-free environment that sets it's goal from the absolute jump of the record. The pop of each musical styling Amine offers properly backs him enough for you to understand that not every song on the album offers happiness, and that's okay. On "Turf", a sobering, somber number that is Two-Face to the rest of Good For You (Harvey Dent), Amine finds himself reflecting on his past, and realizing that home isn't for him, ultimately leading to his "moving out" moment. Just listening to the atmospheric pads surround the track sound eerily like finally taking a look around an empty house that you once called home, and finally walking out for good; like the last episode of Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. "Beach Boy" is catchy in it's upbeat piano and spacey background "Oooooo's", but deceiving in it's message, like making your final thought a good one, reflective and subtractive of regrets, most notably in the end ("I don't know when I'm gonna die, my watch can't tell the time, hopefully there's some hope in me, I won't trip if it's meant to be").
(*I do not own these videos, songs, or the rights to them*)
Overall, Good For You is indeed... Good For You! Amine brings funk, positivity, realization, fun, and uniqueness in a heavily watered down genre. Amine's musical prowess is proven more in the fact that he wishes to use vocal tones and funk instruments to provoke more of a response rather than auto-tune and drug talk. His light-hearted attitude throughout the album (minus a couple of songs) isn't enough to make you want it to stop, using strictly positivity, but in different ways, and different places, different shades, and different spaces. His sense of humor, vocal range, and cool attitude shine throughout the album, and they make Good For You a must listen. Anime gives his very own take on girls, drugs, fun, money, deep thoughts, and much, much more; all of it being very good... and Good For You.
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