Adam Aminé Daniel, known as Aminé, is a first-generation American rapper that was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He is the son of Ethiopian and Eritrean parents who moved to the United States n the early 1990s. Aminé’s debut single “Caroline” was THE hit of summer 2016 and is still regarded for making that summer one of the best moments in time in recent years. Within this debut single, Aminé gave a new sound to the American rap scene. He gave a bubbly, tropical sound through his creative musicality while maintaining the trending trap sound of current American hip hop. This production theme continues through most of his discography. Throughout his work Aminé also uses creative wordplay in his mixtures of conscious and humorous rap. Aminé rose to fame during a time when many hip hop artists all rapped about the same things to the same beats with the same flow. Aminé came on the scene with a brand new sound that brought diversity and duality to hip hop both in his production and lyricism.
In an interview, Aminé talked about his musical up brining from Marvin Gaye to Erykah Badu to Mulatu Astatke (a famous Ethiopian jazz musician) and many more that would blast through his house on Sunday mornings. It is clear that each of the artists had their own large influence on the music he creates today. Being raised by an Ethiopian parent and listening to Ethiopian music specifically influenced the song “Baba” which is alongside “Caroline” in his debut studio album “Good For You.” “Baba” which translates to “daddy” in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, is one of the main songs that helped him reach global listeners, especially on the continent. In the outro of “Baba” Aminé raps in his parent’s native tongue giving a very authentic Ethiopian vibe to the song while also using his classic fusion production throughout its entirety. Aminé is able to create a new wave of hip hop that highlights his Ethiopian influences within his American sound.