PORTLAND, Ore. — On Tuesday, Portland-born rapper, singer, songwriter and once again, fashion designer Adam Aminé Daniel, professionally known as Aminé, teased his second sneaker partnership. This one is dedicated to his alma mater, Benson Polytechnic High School, and Aminé is making a $25,000 donation to students in a program that sparked his musical interests.
On Tuesday, in a social post, he revealed the new blue-and-orange sneaker colorway similar to the school colors of Benson Poly Tech High in Northeast Portland. Launching Nov. 1 with New Balance, the shoes have a parallel style to his 2024 sneakers. Along the back of the left pair is his CLBN (clubbanana) merch brand logo, and on the right pair is "BN" for Benson Polytechnic High.
In that same post is a promotional video detailing the inspiration behind the shoe, paying homage to Benson Polytechnic High School's Radio KBPS program in Portland where Aminé started his musical journey.
"My love for making music started at Benson High School. The radio program gave me my first taste of what was to come. My teacher, Mr. Naganuma, was the coolest man out and would let me and my friends use the radio equipment to record freestyles after school. At first it was just a hobby with my friends and we thought it was funny, we made diss songs to other Portland schools but the positive feedback from our friends was the first time I had ever felt really good at something," Aminé said in the video. "At 17, I still hadn't found a passion for something that gave me a reason to wake up everyday and I started to realize this might be it. When I graduated I told myself I'd give this music thing a try."
He goes on to touch on the impact of Benson Tech's Radio KBPS program in his journey and reveals that he has donated $25,000 to further support college expenses for students in the program.
"The radio program scratched an itch for me that I didn't know was there. Without the radio program at Benson High School, I'd never have a career in music or a sneaker with New Balance. That's why I want to dedicate this collaboration to Benson Tech and donate $25,000 to support the radio KBPS students with cash scholarships to help with college expenses. I can't thank Benson enough," Aminé said.
Last week, another noticeable billboard popped up in the same location as his initial 2023 billboard campaign but this time in orange-and-blue-toned hues with the "Woodlawn" artist's long-standing emblem, an outline of bananas alongside his logo.
What has many in the Pacific Northwest taking notice of the billboard is its forceful message: "Three Studio Albums. Four Mixtapes. 2x Award Loser. 11x Platinum. PSU Dropout. 5 Billion Streams. Festival Founder. Hometown Hero. 2 New Balance Collabs. And yeah, Benson grad."
In a promotional video, the Northeast Portland native took to Instagram last week to make the New Balance announcement in an Instagram reel. The reel stages Aminé, one of his locally known longtime friends, Jonathan Ressom, and Zini, a popular industry associate, observing the billboard near Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Ressom was originally in Aminé's "Caroline" music video, and according to his LinkedIn page has worked as a tour manager for Aminé since 2017.
Similar to the 2023 promotional video, the trio jokingly questioned if any bystanders would recognize that the "4EVA" artist is behind the billboard, while sporting pieces from his 2024 collection and merch from his inaugural music festival in the Rose City over the summer called "The Best Day Ever Fest."
In 2016, the Ethiopian American rapper gained worldwide attention for his breakout single "Caroline" which peaked at No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, launching him into a successful career with an Instagram following of 1.6 million people.
