KOKOnista Of The Day: Armani Caesar Is The First Lady Of Griselda Records

Armani Caesar is the “First Lady” of Griselda Records, an independent record label in Buffalo, New York known for its grimy mid-nineties sound.

Born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, Armani Caesar is a rising rapper, fashion enthusiast, and the “first lady” of Griselda Records. She also has some close ties and connections to North Carolina. Armani has lived in Charlotte since 2017 and attended North Carolina Central University in Durham.
While Buffalo is the city that molded Caesar– attending the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts in Buffalo from 5th to 12th grade– she feels like an adopted North Carolina native. Armani’s aunt moved to Charlotte in 2000, so North Carolina has always been a second home.

Armani’s Griselda Records debut, The Liz, is a brash and fluid rap manual on how to navigate the streets, studios, and clubs as a woman devoted to the hustle, maybe best described by the lyrics on the track “Ginger Rothstein”: “Hustler’s blueprint (Uh-huh), just a steppin’ stone, bitches (Yeah) / Was up a couple hundred thou’ as soon as school finished (Facts).” Much like Sharon Stone’s character in Scorcese’s 1995 film Casino who inspired the song title, Armani holds her own in the tale of Griselda.

The album has received strong reviews, and people are taking notice.  Griselda started dropping music in 2012. Its core trio consists of half-brothers Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine, and their younger cousin Benny the Butcher. They’ve been rapping together through the Buffalo streets under various group monikers since adolescence, and these days are working nonstop, releasing eight projects in 2020 alone.

Like many millennials, Armani grew up on hip-hop and, with a mom who was a big fan of the genre, she received CDs as early as five years old. “I remember being a kid listening to Lil Kim. And like, I was just amazed. It was just so fire to me to hear her talking like this and rapping verses that were always my favorite on whatever Junior Mafia song that she was on,” she said.

With early influences from Missy Elliot to Trina, a young Armani would hear the boys in her neighborhood freestyling– sometimes on her front porch– and think, “I can do that.”

Most of Armani’s earliest recordings were done in a DIY fashion on a PC over downloaded instrumental beats burnt onto CDs, but when she was 16 years old, she saw a flier advertising a local recording studio. This moment would ultimately lead to the beginning of her rap career. The flier promoted a 10-hour block of studio time at Buff City Studios, owned by the late DJ Shay, who passed away in August from Covid-19. The legendary Buffalo hip-hop figure who started producing, managing and recording Westside, Benny, and Conway in the early 2000s was also responsible for starting Armani’s career. Photo Credit: Getty