Video After The Jump
He's tossed the gel, shaved off his spiky hairdo and adopted his grandfather's last name - which he hopes becomes known more for music than mobsters.
"I don't do rap, I do pop music," said the newly christened Carmine Gotti. "If I had to put a name on it, I would call it hip-pop, if anything. I like to stay in my own lane."
He's working on a record deal and making cameos in videos by rappers Khia and Fat Joe.
The 24-year-old grandson of the late John Gotti came to his own fame in the reality show, "Growing Up Gotti." He insists he's not the kid you saw in the A&E series that starred his mom, Victoria Gotti, and two brothers.
"I'm matured, I was a kid when they saw me last time," he said. "I wanted to step away from that whole image....I'm a young man now. I'm clean-cut."
For the past three years he has been in and out of Yonkers' Power House Studios, made famous by rappers DMX and the Ruff Ryders, pursuing his passion.
"It wasn't something that came overnight. It wasn't something that was handed to me," said Gotti, who compares his low-key style to Fabolous with a Justin Timberlake twist.
Gotti, born Carmine Agnello Jr., has dropped his dad Carmine Sr.'s last name and complained bitterly last year that he left the family struggling financially. His mom divorced the elder Agnello in 2003 and he remarried after his release from prison in 2008.
He speaks fondly of his "Dapper Don" grandfather, who died in 2002 in a federal lockup.
"He was more like a father figure than a grandfather figure to me," said Carmine Gotti, who has John Gotti's likeness tattooed on his arm.
"He was always there for us, he loved us, and that's the one side we knew about him," he told the Daily News in a recent sitdown. "We didn't see any other side....He was just my grandfather."
He says his debut album - expected out this summer - will even include a tribute to his grandfather.
Until then, he's building the buzz with some high-profile artists. He appears as one of the "bad boys" in risqué rapper Khia's video, "Been a Bad Girl," and is also in Fat Joe's video, "(Ha Ha) Slow Down," which was released Friday.
As for his own project, Gotti says, "My album is more focused on the club scene, and mostly focuses on women....I want to surprise everybody."
His life as a Gotti is also an influence in his music.
"I've seen a lot of ups and I've seen a lot of downs," he said. "I lived 12 years of my life without a father. My mother had to raise us. But I can't complain - I still have a loving family."
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