All Aminé used to think about was success. Growing up, he made a pledge to himself: “If I don’t make it by 21, I’m just going to get a job doing graphic design or something,” he tells Esquire Middle East. “That was the rule in my head.”
It made sense, honestly. After all, he was coming from Portland, Oregon, a small city in America’s Northwest that his parents had settled in after leaving Ethiopia, a place with barely any hip-hop history to speak of, no community to lift him up. Nevertheless, he approached his deadline with a chip on his shoulder, hustled like his life depended on it, sacrificed his mental health, and in March 2016, a month before his 22nd birthday, he released his first single “Caroline”, and everything finally changed.
“I was grinding like my life depended on it. Maybe it was because I grew up in an African household—I didn’t have much time and I didn’t have much money. I was in this constant rush to success.”
But something was off. Aminé was suddenly everywhere, but not all of it felt as good as he’d hoped. Not all the success he was chasing was leading him right in the direction—and some of the things he thought he wanted could eat him alive if he wasn’t careful.
“I wanted to be accepted in hip hop, accepted in mainstream media. I wanted to be liked by everyone. It was an ego thing, and I learned that ego can ruin you as a human. I was getting in my own way, and the people closest to me had to remind me that I was tripping,” says Aminé.
“And now it’s not really about success at all. For me, it’s about how good the art is.”
Seven years later, that’s why people have stuck with him. He knows, if he had pandered to the right people, he could have more—more money, more sponsorships, more attention. Instead, he focused on the art, and working with the right people, the right brands, and, as a result, he’s in the best place he’s ever been.
People are drawn to that energy. His face is plastered on New Balance ads across the Middle East as the resurgent brand rests the debut of its newest silhouette, the 9060, on his shoulders. He has nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His concerts sell out across the world, audiences screaming along to every bar. But he’s not spending his time basking in that adoration. Instead, he’s turned inward, and finding satisfaction in his own improvement, and spending most of his time alone in the studio.
“I’m 28 now, and even though I’m the oldest I’ve ever been, I feel the youngest I’ve ever been in my excitement and work ethic. I’m recording all night, and even though I’m tired out of my mind and my eyes hurt, I’m pulling my best ideas out of that space. I’m the happiest I’ll ever be in the moment I’m making music, whether it’s good or bad. When I have some new songs on my phone, I feel like I’m doing something right.”
And the stuff he has on his phone now? It might be the best stuff he’s ever made.
“It’s on this unreleased stuff that I felt the most confident and secure within myself that I’ve ever felt. Last month was one of the best months of my life, the writing was coming out so naturally. I was just making song after song the whole month. And nothing was forcing me to. It was just this hunger in me. And I want to keep that hunger going.”
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