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 hip-hop artist with the hardest-to-pronounce 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 four-piece band and background singer crammed behind Bob Boilen’s Tiny Desk, Aminé (pronounced ah-MEE-nay) 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&B-styled grooves and a mannish flow that’s given his hometown more mainstream hip-hop cred than it’s enjoyed since Fre