On March 30, Campus Activities Board (CAB) posted a TikTok announcing that Aminé will be headlining Class and Charter Day (C&C) 2022. The campus was simply buzzing with excitement as the announcement came widely anticipated after last year’s C&C day, which featured virtual performers due to the ongoing pandemic.

Adam Aminé Daniel, who goes by the stage name Aminé, is a 27-year-old rapper from Portland, Oregon known for his upbeat, colorful and carefree aesthetic, evident with the cover art for his debut album, which features the artist naked from the legs up on a blue toilet with a bright yellow background. Aminé shot to fame with his debut single “Caroline” in 2016, which peaked at 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He had recorded “Caroline” on his computer in an unused room at his college, Portland State University, and the song took off, landing Aminé a record deal with Republic Records. He followed “Caroline” with the release of his debut album

Good For You

(2017), which maintained his colorful and joyous aesthetic. The 27 year-old now boasts five albums in his discography and has been nominated for both a BET award and a Grammy, a far cry from his humble beginning as an experimenting college student.

The

New York Times

describes Aminé as a mixture of “Tyler, the Creator’s primary-color exuberance and the earthen emotional presence of the Native Tongues.”

Concert Coordinators Jonah Bauer ’22 and Olivia Otsuka ’24 issued a statement to

The Spectator

, noting, “Last October, CAB sent out a survey to campus to inquire about C&C. From the feedback we received, it was clear that the campus wanted an artist within the realm of Hip-Hop/Rap/Pop. We dug a little further on Instagram where we distributed polls with the names of many musicians and gauged the campus’s interest and responses. Aminé was one of the most heavily demanded artists based on these polls, and in addition to his recent record TWOPOINTFIVE as well its accompanying world tour, we felt strongly about submitting an offer to him and his team. Best known for his songs “Caroline” and “REEL IT IN,” Aminé demonstrates an eclectic mix of Rap, Pop and Hip-Hop that will surely lend itself well for all students to dance to. We are so excited to welcome everyone to the Old Tennis Courts on Friday, May 6 to celebrate the traditional Class and Charter Concert!”

It seems fitting that Aminé is the College’s first in-person C&C day artist since the pandemic, as he has spoken out greatly about how hard COVID-19 has been for him. Aminé told

Complex

of his experience during the pandemic: “I was so depressed in 2020, dude. I didn’t even care if I had an album out. I didn’t come out of bed for like a week.” The feeling of quarantine restrictions lifting is what inspired the artist in his most recent album, TWOPOINTFIVE. In the same interview with

Complex

, Aminé stated, “After a terrible year like 2020, I just wanted people to be back outside and have the AUX with their friends, like, ‘You’ve got to listen to this, this, and this.’ This [album] is full of songs that people can have tons of fun to, dance with, and play at parties, and enjoy with their friends. It’s not really meant to be listened to in a sad space.” As COVID-19 restrictions have been reinstated across campus, students are eager to share in this sentiment. Opened by student bands, Aminé will perform on May 6, 2022, on the old tennis courts.