Aminé Covershoot – A journey into limbo
Aminé X FAULT Magazine
Sunglasses: FutureMood
Photographer Jason Renaud
Stylist Jacqueline Trevizo
Photographer Assistant Emma Berson
Digi Tech & Lighting Rob Holland
Stylist Assist Tatiana Isshac
By now, you all know Aminé. The Portland rapper’s distinctive flow and “happy hip-hop” persona has placed him on every top ten hip-hop artist list imaginable, but while you might know his music, you’ll never guess his next move. Last week Aminé gave an astounding performance of tracks Woodlawn and Burden on Jimmy Kimmel from (and at times within) a hot air balloon proving that despite the pandemics’ disastrous effects on the music industry – he’s still committed to putting on a show.
While we’ve learned much about Aminé from his previously released albums and mixtapes, in August of this year, he released Limbo, an album which many are calling album of the year and they might be right. Musically the album is very much your classic hip-hop album yet draws on the best aspects of modern hip-hop, creating something comfortably familiar yet acoustically brand-new and flawlessly Aminé.
With the album still on repeat, we caught up with Aminé to take a deep dive into some of the album tracks, discuss his process and of course, discover his FAULTs.
Now that Limbo has had a chance to marinate, do you feel you achieved all that you set out to do with the record?
Aminé: Yeah, it did – it gave people a whole new type of sound from me, which is exactly what I want to do with every album I release.
What was the most surprising take you’ve seen/heard about the album?
Aminé: I know I’ve put out good albums in the past that did well, but this is the first time I’ve put an album out and seen so many albums of the year comments. I don’t want to jinx myself because none of that should matter more than actual music, but I’ve just never seen that kind of positive reviews of an album of mine.
You took your time with this album, did you ever feel pressure to keep up with the fast-paced industry or were you allowed to go at your own pace?
Aminé: If anybody knows me, I’m a pretty stubborn person. I do things the way I want, and I don’t like to conform to anyone. I knew this album was important and I want people to understand that.
Gentrification and displacement of black communities in your hometown of Portland is something you’ve critiqued back in Turf and again on Shimmy. Still, at the same time, the tracks are loved by the gentrifying community. What is it like to have your music adored but the message sometimes falling on deaf ears?
Aminé: I don’t blame people for listening to it blindly. That’s almost the goal of music nowadays. Music has been around forever, and everyone’s talked about every topic so the only way to speak on racism or gentrification tastefully is in disguise it under a really good sounding song. I love when people don’t know the meaning behind the songs, and then on their millionth listen they hear the lyrics and they’re like “wait, what the hell! This is not what I thought the song was about.” I think it’s always cool when an artist can do that.
You’re from Portland which has seen over 100 days of protest this year in support of Black Lives Matter. As someone from Portland, what’s something you’ve done to protect your mental health this year?
Walking my dog and just trying to do regular things where I’m not on my phone. Really just trying to be away from my phone, this quarantine I know we’re trying to be safe but this stuff is really messing up a lot of people’s mental health so just trying to be safe.
It’s every mother’s dream to have a song like ‘Mama’ written about them, have you had it planned for a while?
Aminé: I tried to make that song on a couple of albums, but they weren’t good enough. This is the first time I where everything felt natural and right. I didn’t have to try so hard with the hook, and I was like, “Oh, this feels perfect”. I took my time to write the verses, I wrote like ten different verses for it and what you hear now is the end product – I was really proud and happy with it. You only get one shot at that mama songs, so I wanted to make sure it was good.
Do fear that as your acclaim grows, your ability to express yourself as freely will diminish?
Aminé: I feel like it does lessen, but I don’t conform to anyone, so I try to stay away from the celebrity side of things. Not in a way that I’m super against it, and I hate it all, but more so, I just be kicking it at home with my friends, I don’t really see it unless I’m on my phone.
What’s something new you’ve learned about yourself during the lockdown?
Aminé: I took travelling the world and touring for granted. I didn’t appreciate it as much because I would be doing so many shows and working so much that I would always be so tired. I would be wishing I was at home and got to see family and stuff like that. I missed so many birthdays on tour, but now that we haven’t toured for months, I’ve missed it like crazy. I miss performing; I can’t eat; that’s how much I really love music.
Have you had a chance to take in your success or has it passed by in a blur?
Aminé: Over time I’ve started to realize how to enjoy things. My first album wasn’t a fun process. I was just focused on working and not celebrating what we had done. Now it’s just a little frustrating for us because we spent like two years on this album so not to be able to gather everyone together and have a big dinner and celebrate is a little disappointing.
What was the most challenging hurdle you had to climb?
Aminé: My debut album. I feel like that was a lot of people at that time were like, “he has a couple of good singles; let’s see what he’s going to do.” A lot of people weren’t expecting a good album from me. An artist can have a good song but it doesn’t mean they can necessarily put out a good album. I had a lot to prove on Good For You, but we did what we had to do, and we proved everybody wrong.
What is your FAULT?
Aminé: I’m a perfectionist, and I can’t live with my mistakes. I’m very hard on myself and everyone who I work with. I could be so much nicer sometimes, but I’m also just trying to get the work done.
Do you think that’s born from loving what you do?
Sure I don’t think that half the people in the music industry should be in it. I feel like a lot of people don’t realise how much work it actually takes but time always tells with who lasts and who doesn’t – it’s about work ethic.