Aminé

It’s almost hard to believe that the rise of one of hip-hop’s most innovative ingenues happened in Portland, OR—a city more known for hipster rock, coffee, and, well, strip clubs. The rapper, artist, and director draws equal influence from his parents’ Ethiopian heritage as he does from trailblazers such as Kanye West and André 3000. He’s more likely to record in a remote AirBNB’ed wilderness cabin than he is in a posh studio, and he cites Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson as major inspirations. Building on a lifelong passion for music, he began recording in high school and quietly sharpening his mic skills. While attending Portland State University, he released his 2015 project Calling Brio. Merging visual lyricism, swaggering production, and his clever, catchy bars, it became a phenomenon on Soundcloud.
From OutKast to Steven Spielberg, the artists who move culture forward don’t simply inhabit this world; they create their own. That’s exactly what Aminé did on his 2017 full-length debut, "Good For You". Buoyed by his RIAA triple-platinum breakout smash “Caroline,” “REDMERCEDES,” and “Wedding Crashers” [feat. Offset], the album immediately made an indelible impact upon arrival. XXL chose him for a coveted spot as one of its 2017 “Freshman Class” cover stars. In his first major profile, The New York Times described the record as “amiable, inventive and idiosyncratic, one of the year’s most intriguing hip-hop albums and also a bold statement of left-field pop,” while Pitchfork appropriately called it “the soundtrack for an almost sober drive home.” Between explosive sets at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and beyond, he delivered show-stopping performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and more, solidifying himself as a force of nature on stage.
Aminé set the stage for even bigger things to come with his 2018 second full-length. He’ll undoubtedly change the culture once more.