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."
Amina is a writer, performing artist, and hip-hop activist who has spent the past 15 years involved in the advancement of Chicago’s hip-hop culture and community.
Amina is Executive Director of Chicago Hip-Hop Initiative, a non profit community development organization; founder of Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Month, an officially recognized annual observance, which celebrates Chicago hip-hop throughout the entire month of July.
Amina is a respected emcee, poet, and founding member of Urbanized Music, a collective of Chicago-based true school artists.
In 2006, she joined Kuumba Lynx, a non-profit arts-in-education organization, as a resident teaching artist, promoting positive and creative self expression through writing, emceeing, and performance poetry; Also in 2006, she co-created ‘B-Girl Power’, a movement of women building thru hip-hop.
Amina is one of the nationally recognized voices of grassroots hip-hop activism, community empowerment, and women at the forefront of their destiny.
With a truly candid story to tell, Amina’s words and music reflect 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.
For more information, visit their website: http://www.urbanizedmusic.com
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