I had really fun rap songs that I loved that didn’t make this album because I didn’t think they made sense with the rest of the music. It just felt like an easy cop out to be like, “Oh, I’m just gonna put all my best songs on one album.” That to me doesn’t feel cohesive or intentional, so that’s what the pressure was for me with putting this album together. I was just trying to make sure songs made sense together in the same world sonically, so it didn’t feel like I was just taking a lazy route.
TV: Do you think those songs that you wrote are ever gonna see the light of day?
Amine: I think they have the possibility to release for sure. “Arc de Triomphe” on this album was a song made for TWOPOINTFIVE, and it didn’t make it because I thought it was too dancey. TWOPOINTFIVE wasn’t meant to be a dance album; it was just meant to be rap and hyperpop together, but this album was strictly for dancing, and that came up three years later.
Sometimes old songs come up, and I’m like, “Oh sh*t, this makes sense with what I’m doing right now.” And then other times I’m just a bit fatigued from working on a body of work, like when I finished Limbo. I was excited to make a song that sounded completely nothing like that. That’s what it is for me every time I work on new music after an album releases, I can’t make the same music I just did because it doesn’t feel fun. When you walk into the studio, it’s like walking into a blank canvas. You can do literally whatever you want. You can decide to be a rockstar that day if you want and that part is really exciting — to not know what you’re gonna make.
Aminé for Teen Vogue
Photo by Gisela Jane, courtesy of Primavera Sound (edited)
TV: You talk about albums like these cohesive units. When you’re putting a live show together, how do you make sure there’s a balance of the new, the old, and everything in between? How do you find that cohesiveness on stage when the records are different?
Amine: From a technical standpoint, we’re looking at BPMs, like “Familiar” and “Sossaup” feel really good together just next to each other randomly, My DJ MadisonLST, who’s really good at BPMs and just DJing period, is the one who’s helping me decide most of that things. Half the time it’s really hard for me to decide what songs to perform because I have all my favorites but then I know fans have their favorites and you wanna please everybody.
I’m always trying to balance putting in the new stuff. We did a lot of the new stuff at Primavera. That was our first time doing a lot of the songs so it was nerve-racking but cool and just fun to test out what songs work for shows. It’s funny because some tracks that you don’t think are good for shows initially, do really well at shows and then it becomes one of your bigger songs because of the tour. Tours always help you decide what kind of songs to make for your next album, too.
TV: Was there a song you performed for the first time at Primavera that you were not sure about and it really hit?
Amine: Yeah. I didn’t know how “Familiar” would feel in front of a festival crowd. I always imagined it to go well but I was nervous about it being the first song and that went well. It was really fun, I saw a bunch of people dancing and jumping around so that that was a good sign to me. That was my first ever performance in Barcelona.
TV: How did it feel?
Amine: Primavera was way more fun than than I thought it would be. I wasn’t on the main stage, so I didn’t really know how many people would be showing up for my set but it was packed. There was a kid in the front who said he is my number one fan in Spain and he had a poster from my first mixtape on Soundcloud from, like, 2015. I thought that was really impressive. Like, I believed he was my number one fan in Spain because he knew a deep cut that, clearly, most people in the crowd don’t know.
TV: How does it feel when you spot those types of OG fans?
Amine: That’s my favorite. Those are the people I perform for. I feel like those people deserve more of your attention at shows because they’ve been waiting for years. Sometimes people in the crowd are a little dead, or they’re just too cool to really wild out, and if you see that one person wilding out, then that’s all I need in order to do a good performance.
Aminé for Teen Vogue
Aminé for Teen Vogue
TV: Obviously you filled the Primavera crowd in on the fact that your luggage was lost. Was that the Rimowa bag that you got gifted?
Amine: Dude, yes. I’m so happy you said that because the pain in my heart from this Primavera trip is insane. I’ve been depressed for two weeks. You don’t know what it’s like to just have all your clothes gone. All my favorite face washes and sh*t. The things you need to have a start of your good day, you know? I have sensitive skin. If I gotta just buy some sh*t at the random mart, I’m not having a good day. I’m gonna look ashy the rest of the day and I can’t be happy.
TV: What are the brands that you use for your skincare?
Amine: Oh, I’m a bit bougie. [Laughs.] I use a whole La Mer set — toner, moisturizer, face oil… All those things. It’s a five-step process that I have and I need because it just makes me feel good, you know? And that was a lot of money lost. I was very depressed about it and it ruined the rest of my trip. Every day I woke up and I looked at my luggage and I was like, “Man, all I got is white tees from H&M and some black pants and that’s it.” Every day? I couldn’t do it.
TV: You still looked cool, especially backstage with that flannel.
Amine: I’m so picky and nitty about things that I feel like such a b*tch even saying this out loud but… that flannel looks good, but it doesn’t fit me right and that depresses me. Sometimes, it’s not even about what you’re wearing, it’s the way clothes hug your body and make you feel comfortable. I just wasn’t comfortable and that was the thing that irritated me.
About The Author
