A M I N A

A writer since childhood, Amina grew up in her father’s homeland of Nigeria where she and her family moved shortly after her 7th birthday and didn’t return to Chicago for good, until after high school. "I missed a whole lot of hip-hop," she explains, "…but in retrospect, I kinda consider myself lucky to have had such wonderful musical influences like Fela and Sunny Ade in my life.  But my mom made sure I had a healthy dose of everything.  She played everything from The Spinners, and Roberta Flack, to Miriam Makeba, Yusef Lateef, and Miles Davis."  Within 6 months of being back in the U.S., hip-hop came knocking, when Amina joined her first rap group. "With roots like that," she admits.... "..it’s no wonder I became hip-hop."

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By ’92 Amina was not only an emcee, but had began performing her poetry, and had soon become a regular at legendary open mic sets like Spices, and Another Level at Literary Explosion (Lit Ex).  She would later be featured at The Bop Shop, Jazz Oasis, Hot House (former location on Milwaukee Ave), and Wabi Sabi.  Amina even performed a solo hip-hop & poetry show for inmates at the Statesville Correctional Facility. While rocking mics across the city, Amina decided she wanted to learn more about the music business, and set out on a quest to do just that.  She spent the next several years working as a street promotions rep, advertising accounts rep, event planning, and in promotions for a prominent Chicago radio station.  It was also during this time that Chicago’s hip-hop scene was coming of age, and Amina realized that more needed to be done to bring this underground culture together and help unify this vastly diverse scene, so she began to organize. 

In 1995, she founded Chicago Urban Mines (Music Industry Networking & Entertainment Socials), which later became a monthly networking & showcase party featuring some of the city’s top, and upcoming dj’s, emcees, poets and singers. By this time Amina had also teamed up with producer, and Spalaney’s (Elements Of Nature) member, Coolout Chris to form Urbanized Music, a songwriting and production collaborative.  It didn’t take long for Urbanized Music to gain solid footing on Chicago’s music scene. In ’01 Urban Mines organized a year long campaign to salute Chi hip-hop called the ‘Chicago One Love Campaign’.  Two years later Amina founded the Chicago Hip-Hop Initiative, a not-for-profit community development organization, and in ’03 C.H.I. drafted a resolution, which passed the Chicago City Council, proclaiming the month of July as the official observance for Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Month; And in 2006 she served as co-chair for the National Hip-Hop Political Convention. 

Today, in addition to performing, and organizing, she currently teaches emceeing & poetry through Kuumba Lynx, a Chicago based non-profit arts-in-education organization.

With a truly candid story to tell, Amina’s music reflects the intricacies of life.  The little things.  Weaving through love and pain, reality and illusion, with a subtle hint of seduction and mystery.  A genuinely talented writer, Amina has the unique gift to paint pictures we can all identify with.  "Within our lives, we all experience the same forces of energy," she explains, "…it is how we interact with these energy that defines us.  My songs are inspired by that energy, and the many possibilities within it." And she truly exemplifies it.  Whether in song, lyric, rap, spoken or written word, Amina makes her point.  She is a poignant communicator, aiming directly for the listener’s intellect.  Her poetry is direct and unpretentious.  Her songs are well-crafted, eclectic gems. And when she flips into emcee mode, her lyrical prowess has even the most hardcore fan pumping his fist in the air as metaphors and punch lines fire in rapid succession.

Amina is far from being ‘just another female emcee’, she’s the newest force to be reckoned with.  She is soul, rhythm, politics, compassion, intrigue, representing the core of all of us.  Amina has something for you too, and you can bet……….  it’ll truly change your life.

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