Aiden Portes is turning tragedy into good

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Aiden Portes was born and raised here in Buffalo.

When Portes was growing up, he and his brother had a passion for creating music. Through their music, they were able to travel the world performing. But that came to a tragic ending.

“At the age of 14, my brother was caught in the gun violence and was killed. He was shot, one bullet to the head, and he passed away,” said Aiden.

He was only 17 at the time of his brother, Christian Portes’, murder and it took many years for him to heal. Aiden says the healing journey is different for everyone.

“Healing, forgiveness, closure. It’s all different for everyone. And when my brother passed away, I shut down. I was 17 years old. I didn’t want to talk about music. I didn’t want to get on a stage. I didn’t even want to know what music was for 12 years.”

It took seeing his mom starting to move on for Aiden to know it was time for him to do the same. But, mourning the loss of his brother was not the only reason he took time away from music.

“When I started the music with my brother, I used to be female. So that’s another reason why, maybe, I kind of stopped doing music as well. I wasn’t comfortable with my body. When I turned about 24, I started transitioning.”

Once Aiden felt comfortable after transitioning he got back to music by starting his record label ‘Hungie Recordz,’ the name in honor of what he used to call his brother. But music wasn’t the only thing Aiden wanted to get back to. He also wanted to give back to the community and bring back the unity he felt there was when he was younger.

“We’re gonna start doing community stuff. We’re going to give back to the community with the little bit we have. We’re just gonna give it to them, you know, whatever. The fame is here, it’s cool. I love it. But I want to give what I have, what I can, to the community,” says Portes.

One of his favorite ways to give back is with a back-to-school drive, which was one of Christian’s favorite events.

The reggaetón artist won Best Latin Artist of the Year and is hoping for more awards to come. He plans to continue working on his music and giving back to the community in the future.