The Rising Star of Amine

Aminé Is in Fact, “Good For You”

By Hailei Aberson-Holford

“When I say you’re beautiful you say I know!”

That was how 23 year old rap star Aminé @amine' set the tone for the concert in his hometown @glitters of Portland, Oregon at the Roseland Theater. The night was filled with positive words of affirmation along with educational statements about gentrification and race. I know that seems pretty deep for someone who is famous for singing about a hot girl named Caroline but I am telling you it happened.

Aminé is a rising star with Pacific Northwest roots. He was born Adam Aminé Daniel@aad and was raised in Portland, Oregon by Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrant parents. He attended Portland State University and worked as an intern at Complex, a New York based Hip-Hop publication, before breaking into the music business in 2014. Fast track to today he is touring the world performing songs from his Gold selling album “Good For You” that features his hit song “Spice Girl”  in which the music video portrayal  includes appearances by famous celebs such as Mel B (Spice Girls, America’s Got Talent)  and  Issa Rae    (HBO’s Insecure).

I attended the Aminé@images concert with my 14 year old sister [her first] and her two friends, all covered in glitter which they insisted was a requirement of Aminé fan personification. Though some of his music may have some explicit lyrics I appreciated his energy and inclusivity of all who were attending. At one point he held up an interesting pair of pants which were covered with patches of written words [I think he creates a new pair in each city he performs]. He asked the crowd to give him a word he could add to them. The crowd shouted out a wide variety of ideas but the one that caught Aminé’s attention was “F*#%  Gentrification!” Aminé grew up in N/NE Portland, went to Benson high school and is a part of the community who, like me, has seen rapid change in a short few years. Not all this change has been bad but it wasn’t all that positive either and we see this mostly throughout the African American families that have been pushed out due to increases in housing and property prices. Aminé called this to attention, albeit very briefly, really connected with me and it also allowed the start of an important conversation post-show with my sister and her friends, all who grew up in Oregon City [17 miles from Portland] having never really seen the impacts of gentrification in real time.   

The last song of the night was Aminé’s most recognized song “Caroline” and in this song he says the “N” word. As the lyric approached the music got a little lower as Aminé sang, “Killa west side…., If you ain’t it don’t say it” followed again by a brief pause. As a black woman I appreciated this stand, and I wasn’t alone hearing the echo of “YAS!” spread throughout the crowd across the venue. People of color joined in to praise and support Aminé's acknowledgement of the often inappropriate use of this word by a party of people it’s not meant for. This is something that I feel rappers don’t often address, so to see a young influencer like Aminé willing to speak out in even the most subtle ways on sensitive subjects is refreshing.

Overall it was a really great show and our girl group left our fair share of glitter on the dance floor, jumping and shouting out the lyrical hooks during his energetic performance. I am excited to see how much Aminé@OB will grow and evolve as an artist and if his growing influence may help shape some clever and empowering narratives for the Black community in the Pacific N