A*M*E

Aminata Kabba (born 13 December 1994), better known as A*M*E, is a British singer-songwriter. A*M*E was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone on 13 December 1994. In 2011, Kabba was scouted and signed by Take That frontman Gary Barlow to his label, Future Records.

On 9 December 2012 the BBC announced that A*M*E had been nominated for the Sound of 2013 poll.

In January 2013 A*M*E signed to Sony Music's Epic Records after Barlow closed Future Records to focus on his own career commitments. Her single Need U, a collaboration with Duke Dumont and MNEK, topped the UK singles chart on 7 April 2013.

Biography

1994–2011: Early life

At the age of eight, Kabba moved to the United Kingdom after her mother's hair salon was burned to the ground and life in Sierra Leone became too dangerous. Growing up in the Catford area of southeast London, Kabba formed her own playground version of American group Destiny's Child, named Independent Girls; before realising that—much like Beyoncé Knowles—she preferred the spotlight solely on her. From there she joined the Sedgehill School choir, taking lead on choral renditions of songs by Rihanna and Justin Timberlake, before being introduced to fellow teenage prodigy, MNEK. The pair bonded over a mutual love of 90s pop and started collaborating, quickly creating a handful of songs including "City Lights". The track was enough to pique the interest of Take That frontman Gary Barlow, who proceeded to sign her to his Future record label.

African Methodist Episcopal Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African-American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It is the oldest independent Protestant denomination founded by black people in the world. It was founded by the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists. Allen was consecrated its first bishop in 1816. It began with 8 clergy and 5 churches, and by 1846 had grown to 176 clergy, 296 churches, and 17,375 members. The 20,000 members in 1856 were located primarily in the North. AME national membership (including probationers and preachers) jumped from 70,000 in 1866 to 207,000 in 1876.

Church name

Motto

"God Our Father, Christ Our Redeemer, the Holy Spirit Our Comforter, Humankind Our Family"

Derived from Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne's original motto "God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, Man our Brother", which served as the AME Church motto until the 2008 General Conference, when the current motto was officially adopted.