Amani was born Adriana Marie Sims on August 13, 1987. At the age of five, under the auspices of her mother, Lena, she took up hula, jazz and hip hop dance. Amani found her passion connecting music and movement, often dancing for hours at a time.\r \r Amani fed her developing fire for music by singing in her school choir at Pearl Harbor Elementary and in her church choir, where her vocal talents shone. By the age of 8, Amani had formed her own girl group called J.A.G. (Janelle, Adriana, and Glenda), and experienced some of her best childhood moments performing with them for every classroom each Friday.