Adam Aminé Daniel (born April 18, 1994) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He first gained notability for his commercial debut single, " Caroline", which peaked at number 11 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Aminé released his debut studio album '' Good for You'', on July 28, 2017, and his second studio album, ''

Limbo The unofficial term Limbo (, or , referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. However, it has become the gene ...

'', on August 7, 2020.

Early life and education

Aminé is the son of an Eritrean father and

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

mother. Aminé's mother worked at a post office and his father was a teacher and translator part-time. Aminé was born and raised in the Northeast Portland neighborhood of Woodlawn. He grew up in a household where

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

was spoken. Aminé graduated from

Benson Polytechnic High School Benson Polytechnic High School (BHS) is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. Its campus is located in the Central Eastside commercial area of Portland, Oregon, United States. Students are given a special em ...

, and attended

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

to study

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

before dropping out to focus on his music career full time but was awarded an honorary doctorate degree on June 14, 2025 for having "created a new path within rap and hip hop — one that allows for creativity and radical expression of self." Aminé previously worked as an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

at the hip-hop publication ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

''.

Career

2014–2015: Early career and career beginnings

On January 17, 2014, Aminé began his music career after releasing his debut

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

, ''Odyssey to Me''. On September 4, 2014, Aminé also went on to release his debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, titled ''En Vogue''. On August 31, 2015, Aminé followed suit with his second mixtape titled, ''Calling Brío''.

2016–2017: Breakthrough with "Caroline" and ''Good for You''

On March 9, 2016, Aminé released his debut single, titled " Caroline". Aminé went on to release his self-directed music video for "Caroline" through his

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

channel on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on June 1, 2016. The song debuted at number 96 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and would later rise to number 11. In June 2017, the song was certified three-times platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. In August 2016, Aminé partnered with

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

. Aminé went on to release his second single under Republic Records, titled "Baba" on November 4, 2016, following the success of "Caroline". On November 15, 2016, Aminé performed "Caroline" on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

''. On March 9, 2017, Aminé released a new single titled, "REDMERCEDES". The music video for the song was released on April 7, 2017, through his Vevo channel on YouTube. The song had been praised for being influenced by early 2000s rap, such as songs by

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

. The official

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of the song features vocals from Missy Elliott and

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper and record producer from Ladbroke Grove, London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' in a list of "best new acts to c ...

. The remix was released to

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on May 26, 2017. Aminé went on to release another single on the same day titled, "Heebiejeebies" which features vocals from

Kehlani Kehlani Ashley Parrish ( ; born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. She is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen pop group PopLyfe in 2011. Kehlani's debut mixtape, '' ...

. Aminé was named as one of the ten members of '' XXL's'' "2017 Freshman Class" on June 13, 2017, alongside rappers A Boogie wit da Hoodie,

PnB Rock Rakim Hasheem Allen (December 9, 1991 – September 12, 2022), known professionally as PnB Rock, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Allen signed with Atlantic Records in 2015 and gained initial recogn ...

Playboi Carti Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1995, or 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern Hip hop music, hip hop a ...

, Ugly God, Kyle,

MadeinTYO Malcolm Jamaal Davis (born April 12, 1992), better known by his stage name MadeinTYO (pronounced Made in Tokyo), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his 2016 single "Uber Everywhere," which peaked at number 51 on t ...

, Kamaiyah,

Kap G George Ramirez (born July 31, 1994), better known by his stage name Kap G, is a Mexican-American rapper. He is best known for his 2016 single "Girlfriend (Kap G song), Girlfriend", which received RIAA certification, platinum certification by the ...

, and

XXXTentacion Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion gai ...

. Aminé went on to release the single "Turf" three days later. On June 22, 2017, Aminé announced and revealed the album's title and cover of his debut studio album titled '' Good for You''. Leading up to the release of the album, Aminé released the singles "Blinds" and "Wedding Crashers" featuring vocals from rapper Offset. ''Good for You'' was released on July 28, 2017. The album debuted at number 31 on the US ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

'' chart with first-week sales of 13,000 copies first week. Following the release of ''Good for You'', Aminé released the single "Squeeze" on October 21, 2017.

2018–2020: ''OnePointFive'' and ''Limbo''

On January 16, 2018, Aminé was featured on Rejjie Snow's single titled "Egyptian Luvr". Aminé later released the single "Campfire" featuring

Injury Reserve Injury Reserve was an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in 2012 in Tempe, Arizona, Tempe, Arizona. The group consisted of rappers RiTchie with a T (Nathaniel Ritchie), Stepa J. Groggs (Jordan Groggs), and producer Parker Corey. After ...

on April 6. After teasing a 2018 project release, the project, titled '' OnePointFive'', was announced on August 14, 2018, alongside the cover art, tracklist and its release date. The album was released to the public on August 15. He was later a part of the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for the 2018 movie, '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'', with the song, "Invincible" on December 14. On February 26, 2020, Aminé released the single, "Shimmy". On May 29, 2020, Aminé released the single "Riri". On July 6, 2020, Aminé released the single "Compensating" featuring

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

, whilst announcing and revealing the cover art and release date for his second studio album, ''

''. On August 7, 2020, ''Limbo'' was released.

2021–present: ''TwoPointFive,'' ''KAYTRAMINÉ and 13 Months of Sunshine.''

On October 25, 2021, Aminé released the single, called "Charmander". On November 3, Aminé announced on Instagram and Twitter that his mixtape "TwoPointFive", which he refers to as " isEPLPMIXTAPEALBUM", would release the following day on Friday. The following day Aminé would reveal the tracklist and cover art for the mixtape On November 5, TwoPointFive was released. On April 7, 2023, Aminé and

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian music producer, rapper, singer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of m ...

released "4eva" featuring

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

, the first single from their joint album "Kaytraminé". In October 2023, Aminé was featured in the track "C'mon" by South Korean singer Jini from the EP '' An Iron Hand in a Velvet Glove. In May 2025, Aminé released his third studio album, titled “ 3 Months of Sunshine��. The project saw guest appearances from

Leon Thomas Amos Leon Thomas Jr. (October 4, 1937 – May 8, 1999), known professionally as Leon Thomas, was an American jazz and blues vocalist, born in East St. Louis, Illinois, and known for his bellowing glottal-stop style of free jazz singing in the ...

, Toro y Moi, and 454, with production credits from Loukeman,

Lido Lido may refer to: Geography * Lido (Belgrade), a river beach on the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia * Venice Lido, an 11-kilometre-long barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Italy * Ruislip Lido, a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruisl ...

, Joy Orbison, and more.

Personal life

Aminé currently lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Aminé has listed

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

as his favorite director; he wants to branch out into film directing and fashion. Aminé had a romantic relationship with singer

, which he mentions in his 2017 song "DR. WHOEVER".

Political views

Aminé is an open critic of former and current

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. During Aminé's television debut on ''

'' on November 15, 2016, Aminé performed a remixed version of the song "Caroline". At the end of the performance, Aminé performed a verse dedicated to the results of the

2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...

saying the lines:

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, a day that we never forgetting, 11/9, a day that we all regrettin', If my president is Trump then it's relevant enough to talk 'bout it on TV and not give a... I'm black, and I'm proud my skin is brown and I'm loud, everybody love it when a rapper tells some lies well that ain't me, homie, I guess that's a surprise America wanna act all happy and holy but deep down inside they're like Brad and Jolie, Caroline divine and I won't get specific, Club Banana the illest and it's too terrific, You can never make America great again, all you ever did was make this country hate again.

When speaking about Trump's immigration policy during the 2016 presidential campaign, Aminé said, "My parents are immigrants to this country, they came to this country for a better opportunity just like everyone else." In October 2023, Aminé signed an open letter calling for President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to push for an end to the bombing of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

amid the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid.

Discography

* '' Good for You'' (2017) * '' OnePointFive'' (2018) * ''

'' (2020) * ''TwoPointFive'' (2021) * '' Kaytraminé'' (2023) * '' 13 Months of Sunshine'' (2025)

Tours

* ''Tour for You'' (2017) *''TourPointFive'' (2018) *''Best Tour Ever'' (2022) *''Kaytraminé (2023)''

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1994 births Alternative hip-hop musicians American hip-hop singers African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers American people of Ethiopian descent American people of Eritrean descent Benson Polytechnic High School alumni Living people Portland State University alumni Rappers from Oregon Republic Records artists Singer-songwriters from Oregon West Coast hip-hop musicians 21st-century American rappers Singers from Portland, Oregon American contemporary R&B singers American trap musicians American music video directors