Aminé: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Nov. 14, 2017, Rodney Carmichael Considering all the unique monikers MCs have concocted throughout the history of rap, Aminé Adam Daniel s middle name by birth isn t all that strange. But that hasn t kept him from becoming the hiphop artist with the hardesttopronounce name of the moment. He s been called everything from anime (as in Japanese animation) to amino (as in the acid). But after watching the Portland native perform three songs from his Good For You debut album, with a fourpiece band and background singer crammed behind Bob Boilen s Tiny Desk, Aminé (pronounced ahMEEnay) should be hard to forget. His debut single Caroline is definitely recognizable after peaking at No. 11 on Billboard s Hot 100 last year. Aminé followed it up one year later with an LP that expanded on his colorful pop chops with R Bstyled grooves and a mannish flow that s given his hometown more mainstream hiphop cred than it s enjoyed since Fred Armisen fumbled through the history of rap on an old episode of Port