Michael Admani thought he had a great career going. He worked his way up the corporate sales ladder, becoming the youngest general manager for the Old Navy clothing chain in the northeast, earning the distinction at the age of 20. The Guttenberg native and North Bergen High School graduate was making money and enjoying life.
But things changed in 2000, when Admani’s daughter, Destiny, was born.
“I was working like 75 hours a week,” Admani said. “I was a workaholic. I wanted to be home for Destiny. I had to do something different.”
So Admani returned to his roots, going back to doing what he did in high school – rapping.
“I started rapping when I was in North Bergen High, like in 1993,” Admani said. “But I never saw it as a way of making money. I was just rapping, battling, where I would go up against 10 different rappers. I built a reputation as a rapper, even in high school. I just never pursued it, because I had the other job. I even stopped performing. Before Big Boy blew up, no one ever looked at hip-hop as a way to have a monetary gain.”
The “Big Boy” that Admani is referring to is the rise of “Big Boy” Records, a group that started to market the rap styles of people like the late Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. Notorious B.I.G., and Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, a.k.a. “P. Diddy.”
“I really felt that I could make it as a hip-hop artist,” Admani said.
There was only one problem. Admani is a Cuban-American. Most of the rap recording artists were African-American. The opportunities for a Hispanic hip-hop star were either slim or none.
“I understood that hip-hop was dominated by African-Americans, but I felt like I had a chance,” Admani said.
Admani was encouraged by the rise in popularity of Big Pun, a Puerto Rican rap star who died of a heart attack three years ago.
“He was the lone Latin rap artist,” Admani said. “I know there was a huge stereotype, but I wasn’t going to let it get me down. Someone once told me that everyone has a stack of cards, and it’s up to you to flip the cards to your advantage.”
Admani decided that he wanted to flip his career, from clothes salesman to hip-hop rap artist.
“I knew it was a gamble, but I knew it’s what I wanted to do,” Admani said. “I’ve always been very business-minded, but I had an idea of what I needed to do. I left Old Navy and saw the opportunity to record my own songs.”
Admani had written some rap songs, and his best childhood friend, Sal Corales, provided the beats. He got a recording studio on Kennedy Boulevard in North Bergen called Essential Recordings. He put together enough songs to record a full CD.
The only dilemma? Admani didn’t have a catchy rap name. Somehow, Mike wasn’t going to work.
“I had a list of about five different names,” Admani said. “I was on the train going to perform at ‘Amateur Night at the Apollo,’ knowing that I needed some name that night. And on the train, it just sort of popped into my head. ‘Anonymous.’ It fit. I was ‘Anonymous.’ ”
How hard is it to make a name for yourself with a name that wants to preserve your true identity?
“It is a little bit of a contradiction, but it works,” Admani said. “I don’t mind if my real name is not known. Just when people hear my voice, they’ll say, ‘That’s Anonymous.’ ”
At Tower records
The rapper with the unknown name is making the rounds. His debut CD – of course, entitled “Anonymous” – is on sale at stores such as Tower Records and Virgin Record Megastores. He says the CD has had sales that have already topped 6,000 in the last two months. He’s making a name for himself – sort of.
Admani says he is not a “hard core” rapper, like most of the popular recording artists who fill their songs with profanity, as well as racially-motivated and violent lyrics.
“My lyrics have truth in them, but I’m not a hard-core guy at all,” Admani said. “But no one wants to be labeled as a positive rapper. I do want to change the image that all rappers condone cop-killing and violence.”
On the debut CD, Admani has a song, entitled “Fatherless Son,” which rang true and close to home, because Admani grew up without a father. He also has tracks entitled “Ground Zero,” which he wrote right after the World Trade Center tragedy, and “Cops on My Block,” which is basically his tribute to police officers.
“I wanted to make sure to have the listeners realize that cops are not as they are portrayed on television,” Admani said. “I have a lot of friends who are cops and I know that they are there to help us and protect us.”
His songs are getting regular airplay on hip-hop radio stations like Hot 97 and Power 105.1, as well as other college stations. He also performs regularly at the Bamboo Gardens on West Side Avenue in Jersey City.
Recently, Admani – oops – Anonymous was recruited to join the label of Round Table Records, located in Jersey City, owned and operated by producer David Sainato. Anonymous will soon close his North Bergen studio and concentrate on recording for Round Table.
“It’s taken me five years to get to this point,” Admani said. “I’ve been networking with people in the business. I know Round Table has some big things in the works. It’s the beginning of a new empire.”
On March 7, Anonymous will perform for the students of his alma mater, Anna L. Klein School in Guttenberg, sending his powerful messages through rap to the sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Before he could perform, he wanted to make sure that his lyrics were permissible, so he sent a copy of his CD to Klein School Principal Robert Tholen.
“Who better to know if it’s okay than Mr. Tholen?” Admani said. “It was my idea to send the lyrics. I’m really excited about performing for the kids, because I was one of them once.”
“He was one of the quietest kids when he was here,” said Klein assistant principal Joe Forenza. “I never thought he would do something like this. I’m happy for him.”
Admani said that he truly believes that the local record sales are just the start.
“I know that this is just the beginning, that I’m on the brink of doing something really big,” Admani said. Even if he doesn’t have a name.