Caught Up With Amani

Q.) What is your name/stage name?

A.) “My name is Isaac, but my stage name is Amani or Amani Hiphop. I added the ‘Hiphop’ at the end to make it more unique and easily searchable among the sea of ‘Amani’s that come up when you try and find my music. I got that idea from Token Hiphop a while back.”

Q.) Where are you from?

A.) “I’m originally from Queens, New York, aka New York City. It’s a ginormous city compared to where I live now which is in South Texas. Quite a change of scenery, I’ll tell you that. I moved down here when I was 8 years old and have been here ever since.”

Q.) What do you do?

A.) “I do all sorts of things to be honest. I consider myself to be the ‘King of Sidequests’. I am as of recently a CEO of my company, Amani Hiphop LLC, where I sell clothing as a clothing brand but it also doubles as my own record label as well. I record music, make beats, mix/master. I also do a bit of graphic design and video editing myself as well. A lot of my content has been created by me. I know a lot of other artists like to outsource when it comes to cover arts and music videos. I prefer to do it myself. I am also a full-time college student and I also work as a Public Safety Communications Officer (PSCO/911 Dispatcher) for my city full time. I can’t really name anyone else who is putting in as much of a grind in as me right now. It all contributes to the end goal of putting all my homies on though.”

Q.) How long have you been making music?

A.) “I’ve been making music for about 5-6 years but I’ve barely started distributing my music as of last year so I consider myself pretty young in the music game. All of my artist peers have been releasing music for at least 2-3 years so I have a long way to go in terms of catching up, but that just motivates me to work harder.”

Q.) Who’s your biggest inspiration?

A.) “My biggest inspiration right now would probably be my close friends who are also artists. They go by the names of Zaybeezy, Momotaro, and Boston Atkinson. You can look them up on all streaming platforms. As for big mainstream artists, I’m definitely most inspired by the sounds of Kanye West, Cuco, Tyler The Creator, Freddy Dredd, Mild High Club, Tame Impala, The Beastie Boys, Travis Scott & Kendrick Lamar – in that order.”

Q.) What genre of music do you create?

A.) “I am pretty versatile in terms of what I can create. Like I said, I’m pretty young in the game so I haven’t quite found my sound yet but I do like to make anything ranging between Hiphop and Indie/Alternative mostly.”

Q.) What was it like working with (collabs?)

A.) “A lot of artists these days are pretty stingy with collabs. It seems like no ones open for cooperation anymore if there’s not a steep price tag attached to it. My go to collabs/features have always been with Momotaro and Boston Atkinson and I’m hoping to make a banger collab with Zaybeezy in the future as well whether it be a single or a larger project.”

Q.) What are some features you have?

A.) “Currently, I have features with Momotaro and Boston Atkinson but I’m looking to expand my roster if any artists want to check out my stuff and contact me for an open/feature.”

Q.) What are some features you want to get?

A.) “If I could, I would get a feature with Goondesgarcon, Cuco, Kanye West, and Babytron. I know those goals seem a little far fetched but a man can dream can’t he?”

Q.) Who’s one person, dead or alive, that you’d want to work with?

A.) “Michael Jackson, easy. He is the KING, undisputed. We would make a record that would shatter the planet.”

Q.) Are you signed to a label?

A.) “Technically yes. I’m signed to my own LLC, Amani Hiphop LLC. Used to be called ‘Amani Records’. The company funds all my music expenditures. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be signed elsewhere or put under new management.”

Q.) Do you want a record deal, a distribution deal, or none?

A.) “I wouldn’t shy away from a record deal or distribution deal or even a management deal if given the chance. If the terms were good enough, I wouldn’t see why not. Ideally, I’d just want a deal that would let me dive into music full time and still live comfortably while also having enough to pay the bills for me and my girlfriend.”

Q.) Who are your biggest supporters?

A.) “My biggest supporters are my homies I’ve known since highschool and mostly people from my hometown. The ones I keep close to me know how much of an impact they have on my life and they should also know how much they’ve shaped me as a person and have kept me from going off the rails. As for my fans, I love ’em too. They all keep me insanely motivated to keep doing what I’m doing and to push myself to my musical limits.”

Q.) Where did your name come from?

A.) “Amani is actually my middle name. It was chosen by my mother who is African-American. It comes from the Swahili meaning of ‘peace’.”

Q.) What are you currently working on?

A.) “I’m currently working on singles so I can keep up a release schedule of dropping twice a month and promoting every day. Alongside that, I’m starting to work on a self-titled album that I’m hoping to drop in 2024 hopefully (spoiler alert for those that are still reading).”

Q.) What is your latest release?

A.) “My latest release is a single called “Lonely Freestyle”. It was made around the time of Halloween and was inspired by the likes of Freddy Dredd. I wanted to make a song like his and I’m pretty happy with the way that it came out.”

Q.) When is your next release?

A.) “My next release is called “You Don’t Know Me” and it drops this month on January 27th. Keep an eye out!”