Aminé drops co-directed music video for “Riri”
Portland-based rapper, artist, director, culture shaker and innovative ingenue Aminé delivers his video for “Riri” which he co-directed with longtime visual collaborator Jack Bergert. The video was filmed in quarantine around LA mansions with cameos from the likes of beloved sports broadcaster Taylor Rooks. Aminé even locked writer/comedian Jak Knight, from ABC’s Black-ish, for a closing skit in the “RiRi” video.
“We shot this video before the murder of George Floyd & my knowledge of the Breonna Taylor case,” Aminé writes “but I felt compelled to delay its release for obvious reasons. Activism is essential right now so I put my focus there for the past few weeks. We skipped editing sessions to march in the Black Lives Matter protests. I’m dropping the ‘Riri’ video today because it’s important to show black joy in a time where we’re constantly seeing imagery of pain and suffering.”
Pegged “one of the most creative voices in hip-hop, Aminé shakes the culture every time he releases a new song” (Hot New Hip Hop) and “Riri” is no different. Complex Magazine reportedly “wouldn’t be surpris[ed] if the real Rihanna was caught on Instagram enjoying the new tune.” Hypebeast cosigns that “the centerpiece of ‘Riri’ is Aminé’s soulful hook and reflective lyrics buoyed by bassrich production from frequent collaborator Pasqué.”
In addition to the excitement of the new music video, Aminé has also joined forces with former YEEZY designer Sara Jaramillo and Alice Wang’s ILYSM to offer a $500 grant this week for an artist impacted by COVID-19 shutdowns. Applications for this round of #ILYSM4Artists are due by noon EST on Thursday 6/25 at ILYSM.COM .
About Aminé:
Artists who move culture forward create their own. Aminé’s debut LP, “Good For You” did just that for Portland’s music scene, hiphop and the culture at large — buoyed by his 5x platinum RIAA certified breakout smash “Caroline,” “REDMERCEDES” and “Wedding Crashers” [feat. Offset]. The album which displayed mosaic influence from his parents’ Ethiopian heritage to trailblazers like Kanye West and André 3000, made an instantly indelible impact — scoring a RIAA gold certification, millions of singles streams, Spotify #1s, and 21 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs Chart, peaking at #11. Aminé further solidified himself as a force of nature between explosive festival sets and show-stopping late nights. Maintaining this momentum, while owning his subdued profile and preference for an AirBNB wilderness cabin over a posh studio for recording, Aminé released his self-described 2018 EP/LP/MIXTAPE/ ALBUM “ONEPOINTFIVE.”
Earlier this year, Aminé continued on his promise to change perceptions and defy expectations with “Shimmy” paying homage to his past, while declaring 2020 as his. Accompanied by a co-directed music video love letter to Portland, the song garnered 20 Million streams globally and the gamut of fanfare which you can watch here. Continuing to expand his influence, Aminé also recently appeared on HBO’s Insecure this month.
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