Liim - A Sunflower Garden In Harlem Is Hard To Find Review
22-year-old Harlem musician Liim releases a summery new project that embodies sounds colourful and light while pushing for stylistic experimentation. Liim’s craft is ascending, and Sunflower can attest to it.
Liim Lasalle left us back in 2025 to sit with his first record, Liim Lasalle Loves You, an effortlessly executed project adorned with raw, uncut gems and brightly lit serenades. Now co-signed by Tyler, The Creator, and even attending his Camp Flog Gnaw 2026 come November, Liim is diving headfirst into what seems to be his big break. We were graced with Liim this past May for the lead single from Sunflower, ‘R.I.P Peace’, which made for a sensationally bouncy rap track bleeding with a swaggering proclamation of love. But ‘R.I.P Peace’ would become only a microcosm of the colourful, light-on-its-feet Sunflower, which has enlightened our understanding of Liim’s prodigious abilities.
Sunflower finds Liim in a space where his sound and creativity feel boundless. Hopping from funk and jazz tracks to 1990s rap homages and humble, host-led outros, Liim makes room for all of his tastes at the dinner table. ‘Sunflower Garden’ ushers the record in with an excavation of sound and feeling, conjured by a reverberating bass and swirling synth. Liim’s lyrics wear his love boldly, like much of his work, laying down thickly, “Loyal like a dog be by your side”, to woo his girl. This track feels like the blooming bud of the project, setting our ears up for a flourishing listen. Although adhering to somewhat simple subject matter, Liim finds a way to connect his sounds and contexts to create massive feelings and rich visuals.
‘Machete Summer’, also featured on a COLORS show, lures you in with a cheeky guitar strum, Liim’s lyrics nearly floating over the beat he lays down. This track does a wonderful job of suspending space and time, allowing you to indulge in the feeling of hot summer activities. It feels exclusive and intimate, embodying something of a forbidden-fruit persona. This is another moment on the record where Liim’s serenading lyricism and meandering storylines serve a purpose that can be difficult to pin down, but do so undeniably well.
‘Right Ride’ adopts a crisper, more clear-cut motive, addressing the substantive theme of future goals and focused devotion to perfecting his musical craft. Liim remarks, “Fuck your feelings and dive in… We on some next shit”, a humblebrag testament to Sunflower becoming his playground to flaunt his craft and experimental ideas. A striking track among the 13, ‘1980’ marks one of the first moments where we hear Liim’s allegiance to uncharted musical territories. Featuring close friend AJRadico, ‘1980’ embodies the warmth of a 1980s rap hit with perky, wit-driven lyrics and a nasty snare. It’s the kind of track made for a feel-good, top-down scene, and excels at brightening the album with timeless ease. ‘Hunger in My Stomach’ echoes this same sentiment with a luminous, oscillating beat that wraps itself around the concepts of youth, yearning and the drive to be the best. Liim hits with “cause the hunger in my stomach kept me thinking and humming”, a modest interpretation of what Sunflower signifies for his career: his hunger to hum on.
Liim makes space for a few devilishly good moments where the album feels cracked open and born anew. The interlude, ‘Friends and Their Opinions (Skit)’, skates off the backside of the project’s crown jewel, ‘R.I.P Peace’, posed as a stripped-back, candid rendition of its predecessor. This moment to breathe and collect feels so authentic to the album and reminds our ears of the community and collaboration that stand as the backbone of Liim’s work. Friends Briana Michelle, Opraah and AJRadico unify the track, making it feel like a garage-born friendly jam session, unscathed by further production. Out of the barracks comes arguably one of the nastiest tracks from Sunflower, ‘Buttas On’, ushered in by Liim’s deliciously cocky line: “Liim Lasalle, poster child, for kids that supposed to smile.” After a signature four-beat Pharrell intro, Liim dives into the highs and lows of a scorching New York summer over a scuzzy, drum-led beat and dirty bass.
‘Another Chance’ slows the pace of the project with its honey-smooth movement. Liim has a chance to vocally flex, his verses nearly drowning in echoes as they contemplate missed moments and the passage of time. Feeling like a ‘November’ Flower Boy homage, the outro of the track is lifted with orchestral wings, practically melting you away into the next song. It’s small moments like this on Sunflower that scream musical excellence and show Liim getting closer and closer to mastering his sound and craft. Every detail is meticulously placed to create an experience while listening.
A favourite from the record, ‘Like I Had A Father’ touches closest to the heart, contemplating the allocation of those things we thought we wanted. Liim leads himself through the cathartic release with a dreary piano and a menagerie of instrumentation that builds as the song exits. “I wanted what I thought I couldn’t have, and that’s a problem, but everything I wanted made me feel like how I wanna,” Liim closes. This track serves as a testament to the guilt of getting what you wanted, the dread of carrying baggage from the past and the heavy pain of existence itself. Liim seems to make room towards the end of his projects for some of his most meaningful and emotional work to shine, much like ‘Liim Lasalle Loves You’ from his debut project.
Sunflower sees Liim in his light and in his shadows, bringing us scorching-hot summer visuals and bottom-of-the-heart topics. The young Harlem star is well on his way to honing his craft, and his work shows it. Sunflower is expansive, cocky, delicate, thoughtful and complex. It’s a promising indication of where Liim Lasalle’s musical career might go next and provides plenty of excitement for what’s to come.