Aminé Reminds Us to Take It Day by Day in Uplifting Dallas Show

You can start your work week off by going about your usual routine and counting down the days until the weekend. Or you can hit Aminé’s show on Monday to dance the night away.

On an otherwise sleepy school night in Dallas, South Side Ballroom was modestly full with plenty of room for the Portland, Oregon, rapper’s fans to chill and take in the easygoing sounds of opening DJ, Lido. Many of them bought tour merch from Aminé’s Tour de Dance, a 40-show run he’s doing to support 13 Months of Sunshine, his new album drawing from a 1970s tourism slogan in Ethiopia, where a year lasts 13 months. 

The blue hoodie was the most copped item, with an encouraging message written on the back that speaks to the seriousness and lighthearted humor of Aminé’s feel-good personality.

“It feels like the world is burning and nothing really matters right now but I hope you remember to take it day by day. Life is not easy and you dictate how you want to live it. Your job and follower count will not be what people remember you for. The empathy and grace you show others, your family, and friends should always be on top of mind. Please don’t forget that. I hope your heart is filled with love and appreciation for yourself. I don’t know when I’ll see you again but until then…you’re beautiful (but I’m sure you know that). PS. Watch Cast Away even if you have already. The crab leg scene might be one of my favorite depictions of humanity.”

Aminé is best known for his creativity and vibrant style. He has a lot of hometown pride for Portland, repping Rip City in his music videos whenever he can. He climbed the Billboard Hot 100 charts for his infectious song “Caroline,” which you couldn’t escape in 2016-2017. A few projects later, he released the album of the summer in 2023, which he teamed up with Kaytranada for on Kaytraminé, a collaboration that had been brewing since his mixtape days.

When you think of Aminé, you appreciate that he stays out of the way and has his own metric for success. He doesn’t necessarily have to chase fame for clout, involve himself in any rap beefs, or start becoming a streamer to build up his brand. People like his music and the messages in it because he’s honest, not shy to share his roots as a son of Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants, or spill out his emotions.

Once Aminé arrived on stage, the next hour was him rapping every word and giving fans the much-needed energy to go from zero to 60 to 100. This was a festival-quality set brought together by a three-sided video screen with narration, immersive animations and colorfully radiant palettes matching his songs with art that kept the show in constant movement. He has stacked up a nice catalogue of songs, pulling from Good for You, OnePointFive, Limbo and 13 Months of Sunshine. The first set of songs was insanely fun, opening with “Vacay,” “Riri,” “Raspberry Kisses” and “Woodlawn,” his tribute to the late Kobe Bryant, who was his idol growing up.

Aminé is not a political rapper, but he has openly criticized President Donald Trump in the past. Recently, he was one of the initial 400 artists and record labels to remove his music from Israel, a “cultural boycott” to protest the ongoing violence against Palestinians. “Free Palestine!” Aminé chanted after a few songs, sending a poignant message.

Before you realize all the fucked up shit happening in the world, Aminé provides us the light to escape. His shows began with telling us that “we’re beautiful.” Our response is simply to say “I know.” Songs like “Arc De Triomphe” and “New Flower” are a joy to hear live, the latter featuring his father’s voice in a gesture to put him on the album to show parents are humans too.

He shared that his first Buc-ee’s trip was this week, trying out the brisket sandwich. He loved it so much that he’s willing to kick his healthy tour diet for it. He complimented two groups of people who were “really fucking fly”: two girls wearing robes from the “Vacay” video and four others wearing banana head costumes. He led the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to one of his fans. He brought someone up to sign his tour pants and write personal words on the theme, a tradition where they design a patch for every city and attach it to the pants at every show. 

You can feel his enjoyment as he performs, dancing freely and smiling all the time. This is the same rapper who appeared on the 2017 XXL Freshman cover with the cover line “Generation Next.” His peers on that cover were guys like A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Playboi Carti and the late XXXTentacion, who make trendsetting music that’s been microwavable and overcooked by their imitators. Aminé is not like them, creating his own lane by continuing to express his Pan-African identity through textured introspection, who occasionally delivers swagger-filled bangers like “Charmander,” “Burden” and “Shimmy” like he did Monday night.

His last set of songs stretched deep into fan favorites. He did “Familiar,” “Redmercedes,” “Compensating” and “Heebiejeebies,” a reminder that artists like Young Thug and Kehlani co-signed him early. He did “Reel It In,” “Spice Girl” and “Feels So Good.”

We were impressed by how the newer songs seamlessly flowed from sunny, party records to the early hits that made him a critical darling. Some of these songs are several years old. Instead of sounding dated when performed back-to-back, it unlocked memories of summers, drink in hand, with little worries.

“Caroline” was the grand finale. Taking a camera from one of his camera guys, the gifted director put back on the yellow shades he was wearing at the start of the show. He would point it at himself and the crowd, doing an almost acapella version of “Caroline” with minimal beat. The crowd projected on the screens, a cool shot with the camera phones recording him. He modified the lyrics too, telling people, as the “Killa” line came up, not to say it if they’re not Black.

Before the encore, Aminé did another “Free Palestine!” chant just in case we didn’t hear him the first time. While “Caroline” would’ve been a better ending, he brought out Fort Worth’s own Leon Bridges. Bridges famously made a cameo in the “Redmercedes” so to see him come through was big for local artists supporting our fellow out-of-towners.

“Everybody say thank you Leon,” Aminé said. “Make some noise for everybody who put this tour together. Make some noise for everybody who put the merch together. Make some noise for the banana heads. Make some noise for the robes. Make some noise for Buc-ee’s! Love y’all man.”

On the cover of 13 Months of Sunshine, there’s a sloth. It’s what came to mind as we made our way to the exit, another message by Aminé to not rush things and live a slow-paced lifestyle. It’s nice to know that these fans chose the importance of work-life balance over staying in.

See more photos from Monday’s show: