Sound Writing - ATC Sound

Reflecting On Our Old ‘13 Months of Sunshine’ Album Ahead of Aminé’s New One

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Zander Tsadwa

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May 3, 2025

Reflecting On Our Old ‘13 Months of Sunshine’ Album Ahead of Aminé’s New One

In 2018, The HabeshAmericans — the duo of Ahbee C and I, Zander, an American — put out their debut project 13 Months of Sunshine to extremely local fanfare in the Twin Cities, Minnesota area.

That shit was never going to blow up, but there was a lot to be proud of.

The work ethic was admirable — including songwriting sessions over the phone and several flights from Arizona where I lived with my then-girlfriend (now wife) back to Minneapolis to record with Ahbee C. I maxed out my only credit card to get the eight tracks mixed for about $400. But the mic was hot during our sessions (of course we didn’t notice, we could barely get the mic stand balanced), so engineers could only do so much without actually being the ones recording us amateurs.

During this fun and chaotic time, we also achieved what we believe to be a hip-hop first: bundling a book with an album.

While the 13 Months of Sunshine album got an encouraging amount of attention, it wasn’t until years later that our self-published 13MOS book had a couple of random quotes floating around the internet. The book — written to further elaborate on the themes of optimism, self-determination, and growth in the album — managed to resonate with some people despite virtually no copies of the book actually being sold.

Random webpages like this one and this one picked up some of the more digestible quotes and made some feel-good listicle content. Some went even further and made some of those motivational quote visuals like the one below:

This was not the vision, but we’re glad our words mean something to some people. To peep our 13 Months of Sunshine book, read more here.

All of that being said, there was some magic captured in that project. Some genuinely engaging melodies, a snapshot of a great friendship, and an interesting theme pulling from our shared Habesha culture (primarily Tegaru and Amhara people) and young adult experiences in the United States.

What “13 Months of Sunshine” Means To Us And Habesha People

“13 Months of Sunshine” was the official slogan of Ethiopia’s national tourism efforts from 1961 until 2016 when the Ethiopian Tourism Organization (ETO) introduced the current slogan “Land of Origins.” Ethiopia went through a lot in the lifespan of this slogan, including revolution, Eritrean secession, and a number of self-inflicted humanitarian crises such as the famine that inspired the anthem “We Are The World.”

Beni Amer Boy poster child of 13 Months of Sunshine campaign in Ethiopia — The iconic 1965 image of a Beni Amer boy who became the face of Ethiopia’s “13 Months of Sunshine” slogan

The 13 months are in reference to the Ethiopian calendar, a unique feature of Habesha culture with twelve 30-day months and one five-day month. It is similar to but distinct from more common Christian calendars such as the Gregorian and Julian, representing the self-determination of Habesha people.

The custom calendar format is paired with the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian belief that the birth of Jesus Christ happened around 7-8 B.C. instead of, well…1? This means as of this piece’s publication, Ethiopia considers itself to be in the year 2017.

There is a fierce pride and optimism about Habesha people. Consciously or not, it defined me and Abeye’s friendship and guided us in the songwriting process for the 13 Months album.

We have complicated dynamics back home, but Abeye and I have overwhelmingly experienced love and camaraderie among fellow Ethiopians and Eritreans in the diaspora. We root for Abel, Alexander Isak, Nipsey Hussle, Rubi Rose, Berhana, Master Tesfatsion, and all of our brothers and sisters doing their best to be their unique selves while repping us all.

Almost seven years later with Aminé dropping his much bigger 13 Months of Sunshine project, enjoy this quick Q & A between Abeye and I in celebration of our own art and anticipation for our distant cousin’s latest work.

**Our Favorite Tracks on 13 Months of Sunshine (HabeshAmericans version)**

13 Months of Sunshine tracklist by The HabeshAmericans in 2018

Zander’s Pick

“Sunset” with “Say So” a close second.

Ahbee C’s Pick

Honestly it’s a three-way tie between “Island”, “Say So”, and “Get Up”.

Favorite HabeshAmericans Song Ever

Ahbee C’s Pick

“HabeshAmerican” – an unmixed-unmastered single we dropped. It didn’t make it onto 13 Months of Sunshine but it felt like the perfect introductory track for Zander and me.

Zander’s Pick

“Sustenance (Kool-Aid)” off of Blended Buna. It’s immediately enjoyable and it is one of the only songs of ours I don’t find myself criticizing when I revisit it.

Our Favorite Vocal Parts From Each Other on our 13 Months of Sunshine

Ahbee C’s Favorite Lines From Zander

Our last song, “Sunset”, on the album felt like our own artistic coming of age story and Zander perfectly embodied it in the first few seconds of the song:

“I aint did enough, but I aint gettin upset /

Get a lil better everyday, and everyday got a sunset”

Appreciate the daily small wins in whatever you’re working to accomplish!

Zander’s Favorite Lines From Ahbee C

“‘Cause the hoes know it’s me *sparkle emoji*” Abeye has always had crazy on-mic rizz.

Favorite Moment/Story From 13 Months of Sunshine Sessions

Zander’s Pick

The A-Mill Artist Loft studio was never not a good time. Shoutout to Johnny for the access and early support. We were very excited after Abeye recorded the hook for “Island.” I also have video of us playing back “Sustenance” after it was recorded.

My favorite moment though? The day-long recording session with peak-dreadhead Abeye and a 1.5L chardonnay bottle. Nothing went wrong that day. It felt like an uninterrupted livestream, we spent so much time but it went kinda fast because it was so fun.

Ahbee C’s Pick

Bro this is my fav story too LOL so can we put it for both of us? I would also add how I loved when we had group recording sessions where the guys were with us in the studio sometimes. Felt fun and collaborative.

Ahbee C of The HabeshAmericans with a bottle of chardonnay in the studio recording 13 Months of Sunshine — “Gotta have chains, gotta have wine.” – Ahbee C (2018)

Our Favorite Habesha Foods

Zander’s Pick

I have a special place in my heart for “dabo fir fir” — a fir fir variation my parents made with Country Hearth 12-grain bread slices. More traditionally, keye wut, direk tibs, ga’at (or ginfo for the Amharic speakers). Gomen is a great side.

Ahbee C’s Pick

Easy. Kitfo. It’s top 2 and not 2!

Favorite Habesha Artist?

Zander’s Pick

I listen to The Weeknd more consistently than any other Habesha artist and have admired his trajectory. He gets my vote, hard not to stick with someone you supported before you even know what they looked like! That being said, two of my favorite songs by Habesha artists are “Atse Yohannes” by Tamrat Amare and “Mela Beyign” by Temesgen Gebregziabher for very different reasons.

“Atse Yohannes” has really beautiful krar work and retells crucial history about one of our most important leaders (whom the song is named after). Hearing the krar makes me emotional, it gives me the clearest feeling of connection to my family tree.

“Mela Beyign” is very fun to dance to and the eskista choreo is next level. I’m still looking for opportunities to work eskista into my music videos and I regularly envision some of the moves in “Mela.”

Ahbee C’s Pick

For me, can’t go wrong with Teddy Afro and The Weeknd.

I have core memories growing up when my mom would play Teddy’s music on car rides or at the crib on Saturday mornings.

The Weeknd has the craziest artist arc that i’ve ever seen. From an anonymous identity to a global superstar. I love how he takes on a new persona for each album and to this day he has some of the most classic R&B mixtapes

Favorite Aminé Songs To Date?

Ahbee C’s Picks

Might sound cliche but definitely “Caroline”! Love how catchy the song is and how simple the music video is. It’s really just homies hanging out on some regular shit having a good time. And more than all that, this was the first commercially successful Habesha hip hop song I believe, so the song feels more impactful.

Zander’s Picks

“Sundays” was an early favorite. Good For You is basically the sound of our 13 Months of Sunshine, about half the album is specifically Aminé type beats. I also really like his collaborations with Injury Reserve, particularly “Campfire” and “Fetus.”

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New music from The HabeshAmericans?! We’ll let you know. In the meantime, pre-order Aminé’s 13 Months of Sunshine here and stream The HabeshAmericans 13MOS and Blended Buna via your platform of choice.

UMG’s Napoleon Connection and the Need For Independent Music

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April 14, 2025

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UMG’s Napoleon Connection and the Need For Independent Music

the illusion of the music industry’s doors being wide open due to streaming collapses under the weight of the Big 3 labels’ continued dominance of the market

How is Universal Music Group (UMG), the largest music company in the world today, connected to notorious conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte?

Well, Bonaparte had a nephew named Napoleon III. Napoleon III was France’s first president, second emperor, and last monarch. Early in his term as Emperor of the French, he used his power to order the creation of a company called Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE) — General Water Company in English. CGE became one of Europe’s largest suppliers of public water, responsible for city water in Lyon, Paris, and Nantes, and later expanding into other major European cities like Venice and Istanbul.

From the time of Napoleon III’s imperial decree (1853) to about 1980, all CGE did was water. 1980 marked the arrival of Guy Dejouany as President/CEO of CGE. Under his leadership, CGE was pushed rapidly into other fields including civil engineering, construction, waste management, heating, health, and communications. By the mid 1990s, CGE had stakes in over 2,200 companies. Finally, in 1998, the no-longer-a-water-company global conglomerate changed its name to Vivendi.

As part of its expansion into entertainment, Vivendi kicked off the 2000s with some era-defining purchases. They made waves in broadcasting with a $9 billion acquisition of premium French television channel Canal+. Their move into music was even bigger: the $34 billion acquisition of Seagram — producers of everyone’s favorite pine tree-flavored gin — which came with, among other assets, the newly-formed UMG.

Vivendi was the majority or sole owner of UMG during the following historical checkpoints in music business: peak CD revenue, the advent of Napster and digital downloads, the introduction of streaming, and the highest annual revenues in US music industry history.

New World, Old Rules: Vivendi and UMG Thrive In Oligopoly

This is old money. Taking nothing away from the business acumen of its leaders in the late 1900s, name another utility company that has grown to air PSG matches and make money off of Taylor Swift. National government investment plus a list of aristocratic families (including the Rothschilds) offering their support nearly guarantees a high level of initial success and plenty of room to grow.

In 2021, Vivendi decided to let UMG loose as an indepenent and publicly-traded company. Vivendi distributed most of its shares in UMG to Vivendi shareholders, and UMG’s strong opening on the stock market saw many shareholders win big. Lucian Grainge, UMG CEO, has received 450 million euros in shares since the UMG spinoff from Vivendi including a $100 million stock and options award that many shareholders voted against. UMG artists did not get much of anything from all of this activity.

Now, in a rush to appease various stakeholders by ensuring the company grows, UMG is aggressively seeking to buy publishing rights to the catalogs of legendary artists and swallowing up independent music labels who threaten their market share. This is good business for UMG, but the illusion of the music industry’s doors being wide open due to streaming collapses under the weight of the Big 3 labels’ continued dominance of the market.

In fact, much of the merging and acquiring that made UMG as big as it is today resembles the behavior that has landed Meta in a federal antitrust trial.

Eighty-four percent of music revenue in the US last year was earned by UMG (38.61 percent), Sony (27.38 percent), and Warner (18.39 percent). Almost 60 percent of UMG is owned by three groups — the Bolloré family (28 percent), Chinese holding company Tencent (20 percent), and the Pershing Holding Company (10 percent).

Why Should Music Listeners Care About Vivendi and UMG?

The people with the most power over the production of music treat it like nothing more than one of their thousands of other investments.

Like politics, television, mobile phone service, food, and more, you really only have a handful of choices when it comes to who provides you with music. There’s just too much shit happening in the world for people to be passive about what’s being placed in front of them.

Hear Us Out: ATC Sound’s Year In Review (2024)

An oligopoly in music means a lot of things for the quality of music and the listener experience. Since UMG’s chief responsibility is to its shareholders, the drive for profitability restricts art. We miss out on greater variety in production style, vocal style, lyrical content, artist branding, and an artist’s freedom to speak on their own behalf.

When is the last time you heard a song that wasn’t in 4/4 time?

What percentage of songs that enter the Billboard Hot 100 are not built on common chord progressions or recognizable samples?

For all the brilliant songwriting in today’s pop music, how often are we hearing songs that help us connect to the real world instead of disappear inside one person’s drama or escapist fantasies? “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral because its candor, urgency, and concern with society shocked people out of a stupor.

We, the people, should be learning about each other better than Machine Learning (ML) or Large Language Models. Through the currency of attention, divesting from enormous music media platforms and putting a little more toward independent blogs and curators creates higher quality and more decentralized information on good music and artists. Better music coverage means an easier time finding gems in the vast amounts of quality music available in the streaming era.

UMG, Sony, and Warner do not have to disappear in order for people to gain some sense of freedom from how the Big 3 labels have programmed us to experience music.

Skipping one Live Nation-promoted concert to go see a local artist at a bar is an act of freedom. Seeking out one artist a month with under 10,000 monthly listeners on Spotify is an act of freedom. Toying around with your own music is an act of freedom that helps you respect what it takes for any artist in this world to make something meaningful.

How Do We Connect With Music Outside Of The Major Label System?

There must be better ways people can engage with music and the brilliant artists that make it. There have to be more ways music can generate social and economic good in a community.

We can’t begin to wonder how until humble listeners realize they are an active part of the music industry. Big labels are making moves across the African continent, for instance, because lovers of genres such as afrobeats and amapiano are putting the music on the map by themselves. Indonesians, Malaysians, and other Southeast Asian music listeners are highly active online and sometimes provide greater support to an upstart foreign artist than the artist receives in their home country.

Despite all the artists still chasing after a record deal, major labels are the ones that have to chase after artists and their listeners. Why else would they poke around in “underdeveloped” countries or eat up independent labels instead of competing in good faith? Given freedom of choice, it’s hard to believe 80 percent of money spent on music would go to three companies. Given freedom of choice, it’s hard to believe people would spend hundreds of dollars on nosebleed seats just to say they went to a certain show.

Ultimately, music cannot be controlled. Asking questions about how Vivendi, UMG, and similar entities do their best to control music is not meant to help a new group take their spot. Instead, we ask questions about the current music industry to find ways to create more opportunities for people to be fulfilled by making, sharing, and listening to music.

For the video version of this article, visit the ATC Sound YouTube channel below. If you’d like to help us help independent artists through quality journalism and more, consider supporting ATC Sound via Patreon

Editor Zander Tsadwa in “Vivendi History and Why Indie Music Matters” (ATC Sound/YouTube)

UPDATE (4/16/2025): Edited for typo

In ‘Saaheem,’ SahBabii Is A Slime Rap All-Star And A Regular Person

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Zander Tsadwa

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January 17, 2025

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In ‘Saaheem,’ SahBabii Is A Slime Rap All-Star And A Regular Person

The King of the Jungle, the biggest squid of them all: SahBabii risked fading into irrelevance on his independent journey, including a public declaration of his plans to retire at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But release after release continued to demonstrate SahBabii’s exceptionally skilled, silly, and sincere perspective on rap music.

His supporters’ thirst for more never left, and thankfully, neither did Sah. It’s special to see him arrive at Saaheem with such refined technique, great ambition, and a perfect balance between the streets and his colorful, animalistic fantasy realm.

What SahBabii Achieved With Saaheem

SahBabii has accomplished several feats the vast majority of rappers — and commercial musicians at large — find nearly impossible: owning a distinct version of a trendy sound, independent success after leaving a major label, and star power without a star image. Saaheem is an enormous critical and commercial achievement for a proven rapper that has refused to be in the mix.

Of Young Thug’s notable artistic descendants, SahBabii has often been the odd one out while sonic relatives including Lil Baby, Gunna, and Lil Keed (RIP) are routinely grouped together as former YSL members and musical siblings. Other related peers such as Playboi Carti and Unotheactivist certainly keep to themselves more than most in hip-hop, but their career trajectories haven’t been as humble and unpredictable as Sah’s.

While supporters and SahBabii himself have expressed frustration with the lack of recognition during the low points of his indie music grind, the path Sah chose to walk has led to a very special place.

Yeah, I used to rob, I used to have a job, yeah I’m a regular person /

I used to walk, stand at the bus stop, yeah I’m a regular person /

I make mistakes and it’s okay, baby just know I’m a regular person /

I ain’t gotta front, ain’t gotta stunt, baby I know I’m a regular person
– SahBabii in “Workin” (Saaheem, 2024)

Also Peep: SahBabii’s Life Philosophy As Heard in Do It For Demon

Saaheem has been treated as a premium product among music critics as seen in a number of 2024 year-end lists. Inclusion of this vulgar yet sophisticated batch of Atlanta rap — with notes of Barter 6 Thug and Stage 4 Carti¹ — is being viewed as a signal of good taste in the rap community.

SahBabii has been an if-you-know-you-know artist for a while now, but Saaheem has given him a new luster unique to rappers who are as famous as possible without going fully mainstream (think Yeat when “Sorry Bout That” dropped). The NFL soundtracking a Justin Jefferson highlight reel to “Viking” confirms this second coming of Sah as an elite rap hitmaker.

How SahBabii Evolved Yet Remained The Same in Saaheem

Saaheem is focused in ways previous SahBabii albums were not. Urgency is present in any great rap record, and SahBabii’s determination to impress is evident on this record boasting his government name. He’s staking real claims about his artistry and personal triumphs, not just bragging and floating in his own “Anime World” or the deep sea in “Squidiculous.”

The Gigantopithecus shoutout in “Everyday” is a perfect example of SANDAS-era Sah (think “Titanoboa”) blending with his humorous yet cold view of the streets that feels like Season 2 of hit TV show Atlanta. He’s challenging himself on grounded, aggressive production and showcasing a vocal dexterity that was proven but never flexed to this extent before.

Going from a cartoon theme song-ready high-pitched melody in the hook of “Belt Boyz” to the amphibious croak used in his emotional, gun-toting verse is just one of many examples of Sah’s enormous on-mic personality. “Sylvan Rd Ridin Down Dill” makes a strong case for Saaheem‘s top track as a peak display of SahBabii’s various modes of expression, a vocal performance that matches the cinematic production, and a more removed, observational perspective that takes us on a detailed day-in-the-life tour of Sah’s Atlanta stomping grounds.

There’s an artistic maturity in Saaheem that has appeared to make even casual Sah listeners proud without diluting the playful elements that put him on in the first place. From the sound to the bars to the winding independent journey behind it all, Saaheem is growth for an artist who feels like he has reintroduced himself.

Cover art for the album 'Saaheem' showcasing a portrait of rapper SahBabii with a sunrise/sunset background

Stage 4 Carti also known as “Deep Voice” Carti in reference to Playboi Carti’s latest run of songs and features published since the beginning of his I Am Music promotional campaign (December 2023). Carti’s music during this period is largely defined by a guttural, warbly cadence reminiscent of Future and Young Thug. ATC’s opinion on the definitions of Playboi Carti’s first three sonic eras include 2015-2017 (“Broke Boi” through self-titled), Baby Voice Carti (Die Lit era, 2018-2020), and Whole Lotta Red era (2020-2023). This chronology does not include Playboi Carti’s discography prior to mainstream recognition.

UPDATE (2/13/2025): A previous version of this article misspelled “Saaheem”

UPDATE (5/12/2025): Edited for structure and word choice