Munye Mohamed, Portland High School class of 2011, always had a way with words.

“I was a poet,” Mohamed said. “Mrs. Schmidt was my English teacher. She really encouraged me. She told me, ‘You’re good with words,’ but I didn’t know how good I was until I actually started performing in front of people.”

The first poem that he read in front of his class was “I Carry Your Heart with Me” by E. E. Cummings. He then read “Who Understands Me but Me” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, building his confidence and reading to larger and larger groups of people.

“I was catching an audience at the library,” he said. “From there on, I started practicing and started performing in front of people more. I competed, I went to regionals, and then went to state finals” in the 2011 Maine Poetry Out Loud competition.

Munye Mohamed, who performs under the stage name Shine, in his video for "Aspirations"

After high school, Mohamed moved from poetry into rap music. He loved writing and expressing himself, but the transition wasn’t easy.

“It was completely different,” Mohamed said. “With rap, you got a beat and instruments playing. You say what you want and how you feel, regardless of the audience. You express yourself in such a way. With poetry, you express yourself, but at the same time, it’s a professional environment and there’s a different type of audience.”

Mohamed, who records under the stage name Shine (short for Moonshine, a nickname that came from his first name sounding like “moon”) wants his music that people can relate to and be a positive force in their lives.

“Most people’s lives are not as great as they show,” he said. “I try to be positive because it’s a negative environment we’re in. The energy–everyone’s just down. I try to portray this message so that people can be motivated.”

He’s working on music now that touches on struggles with addiction, to which he hopes those struggling with alcoholism and other issues can relate. He’s currently working on a music video with a plane, a symbol that the sky is the limit.

“I was gone for a while and now I’m coming back,” he said of his new work. “I want people to know that anything is possible. Anything can be accomplished if you put your mind to it.”

Mohamed, who moved to the United States from Somalia when he was five, filmed his first music video, “Pray for Me,” in Riverton Park. He followed that up with “Aspirations,” a hit that garnered more than 1.6 million views on YouTube and got shoutouts from a number of established hip hop artists.

Mohamed currently lives in North Deering with his wife, Aisha, who he met during a trip to Kenya, and their three children. He’s currently doing an HVAC program at Northeast Technical Institute. He said it’s a back-up plan as he continues working on his music.

“I’m a family guy,” he said. “It’s a back-up in case this music thing doesn’t pop off. It’s for a better life. I’m trying my best.”

Mohamed is currently planning on entering a competition at the Apollo Theater in New York. If you’re looking to catch him in the Portland area, though, then he still reads poetry or performs rap at Hi Fidelity on Mondays and Blue on Tuesdays. He’ll also be performing at the festival at Harry Brown’s Farm this summer.