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ARTIST
PROFILE
AMINA
"Within our lives, we all experience the same forces. It is how we interact with these energy that defines us," Amina says. "My songs are inspired by the energy of life, and the many possibilities within it." Whether in song, lyric, rap, spoken or written word, Amina communicates with not only the listener’s ear, but goes right for their intellect, and core of being. Certainly one of Chicago’s hidden treasures. Amina is far from being ‘just another female emcee’, she’s the newest force to be reckoned with.
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 live in the U.S. until after high school. "A lot happened while we were gone. I missed the birth of hip-hop. Can you imagine that?"
By '92 Amina was a solo emcee and poet, and had become a regular at open mic sets like Spices, and Literary Explosion. She would later be featured at The Bop Shop, Jazz Oasis, Hot House, Chopin Theater, and Wabi Sabi. She even did a rap/poetry show for inmates at Statesville Correctional Facility. In ‘94 she teamed up with Rickey X, to form the rap duo Black Earth. Black Earth performed only a hand full of shows together, but during that time, they took the local scene by storm. Their impact on Chicago’s hip-hop circuit is still being felt, and Amina remains a very active part of Chicago’s exuberant entertainment community.
In 1996 Amina teamed up with hip-hop producer, and Spalaney’s/Elements Of Nature member, Coolout Chris, to form an entertainment company where she could utilize her background in marketing and he could use his expertise in music production. The pair would later form Urbanized Music.
Amina has been on several discussion panels including Women in Hip-Hop, and Women Singer-Songwriters at the Chopin Theater and Guild Complex, The Influence of Women in Hip-Hip at Harold Washington College, and a panel on Hip-Hop in America at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has also co-conducted youth writing workshops, and presented an empowerment session for 8th and 12th grade girls at the esteemed Francis W. Parker School in Chicago. Amina has also been spotted on several stages around the city, including The Lounge, and The Cabaret Room, at Subterranean, The Note, The Chopin Theater, Nevin's, The Hot House, Elbo Room, Cotton Club, Vertigo, Zentra, Triton College, Square One, Empty Bottle, Joe’s Bar, Cubby Bear, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago Historical Society, The Vic, and The Navy Pier Skyline Stage.
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