Biography
Pop singer A*M*E, born Aminata Kabba in Freetown, Sierra Leone, relocated to London, England at eight after a fire destroyed her mother's hair salon. Not long after settling in, she assembled an informal pop group before concluding that a solo path suited her better. Years afterward she encountered songwriter and producer MNEK, leading to joint recordings that included "City Lights." Take That's Gary Barlow heard the track and placed her on his Future label, an imprint tied to Universal. That buoyant dance cut, drawing from early house music and K-pop, appeared in 2012 alongside "Ride or Die" and "Play the Game Boy." Also in 2012 she co-wrote "Beautiful Stranger" for the K-pop act f(x), which topped the chart in its home country of Korea. The BBC placed the emerging talent on its long list for the Sound of 2013 poll.