It all started in Portland, OR…
Now, Portland isn’t traditionally referred to as a hotbed of hip-hop like Brooklyn or Compton is, but Aminé could very well change that perception.
“You don’t ever think of a rapper or even a black guy coming out of Portland,” he asserts. “That’s just not a thing! However, there’s a fairly diverse subculture in the city that few people know about. It’s very different from what you would expect.”
However, everything he does defies expectations. 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, racking up over 1 million+ plays. In addition to praise from Pigeons & Planes, HypeTrak, and more, Complex spotlighted him as “one of the artists we’re certainly checking for this year.”
2017 is shaping up to be the year of Aminé. Not only did he join XXL’s prestigious “Freshmen Class” as a cover star, but he also turned up at Bonnaroo with a headline-making set. Announcing his full-length debut, Good For You, arriving in stores and at all digital retailers on July 28.
