Child star turned mature R&B singer, Sammie is back like he never left. The “I Like It” recording artist releases his new single “Friend Zone” and previews his fifth studio album.
Sammie continues to bless the R&B game with love records. The Miami, Florida native exploded onto the scene at 12-years-old, as his 1999 debut single “I Like It” became an instant viral hit.
But fast forward to today, the singer-songwriter is here to prove he’s not the same kid that audiences around the world witnessed during the peak of his teenage music career.
Having gone through and experienced his own life battles, Sammie arrives blessed, grateful, and humbled to be here.
After a string of projects, including 2016’s “I’m Him EP,” 2017’s Coming of Age, 2019’s Everlasting, the 33-year-old hypes fans up for the release of his highly-anticipated fifth studio album, slated to arrive this summer.
AllHipHop caught up with Sammie who was quarantined in Atlanta to discuss his candle line, his new album Such Is Life, the Millennium Tour, and more1
AllHipHop: Where are you located right now?
Sammie:: I’m in Atlanta. I stepped outside, I’m at a gender reveal for somebody really close to me. I can’t announce it yet because he hasn’t. I wanted a boy and we just found out it’s a girl, so a little princess is on the way. It’s awesome.
AllHipHop: How’s quarantine life treating you?
Sammie: It’s not bad because my life in Atlanta is pretty chill. I miss church, gym, and having the option to go to a lounge or a bar, but it’s not so bad. I’ve been creating more music, tapping into my poetry side, adding onto my candle line. Of course promoting my Such Is Life album that drops on June 5th, so I’m busy.
AllHipHop: I heard Atlanta’s opening up soon.
Sammie: Not for me, I’m not going outside. I don’t think it’s time, we don’t have enough answers on how to contain a virus. It’s a very bad decision on the governor’s side to open Atlanta up too soon. It’s not too smart so I’ll still be quarantined.
AllHipHop: Did you pick up any new hobbies or interests during this time?
Sammie: I don’t watch TV a lot, so I’ve been getting a lot of Netflix in. I literally watched 7 to 8 shows. I finished Money Heist yesterday so now I’m sad. Money Heist was amazing. I plugged back in my Xbox, played 3 seasons on Madden 2K. Just being a guy: eating unhealthy, drinking liquor everyday. I have gin in my cup because I’m at the reveal.
Sammie:: I’m losing weight though, because I have to lift weights to keep my little solid size on. I’m getting skinnier now and I don’t appreciate that. I have a high metabolism so I can eat eat eat and I won’t gain anything. Now I’m becoming a skinny guy. I’m living an unhealthy lifestyle until quarantine is over. I eat everything. I’m definitely not getting a pudge, I’m disappearing as I eat. The more I eat, the skinnier I get. It’s stressful. [chuckles]
AllHipHop: Favorite quarantine snack?
Sammie:: I love carrots. Little carrot sticks dipped in ranch, that’s one of my go-tos. I balance, because I eat some chips right after. I went to Publix and stumbled into cotton candy grapes, they’re green grapes but they taste like cotton candy. They’re the best thing in the world. When I die and go to heaven, I need to holla at God and have him lead me to where the cotton grapes are. So good. As soon as you buy them, it’s the taste of cotton candy. I like strawberry applesauce, I’m a big kid. I want to take it back to Lunchables and Capri Suns.
AllHipHop: Congrats on your new single “Friend Zone.” What or who inspired this record?
Sammie:: Thank you, the feedback’s been awesome. Can’t say who, but one of my besties. I have 3 to 4 female best friends but one in particular, we’ve always had a little crush on each other internally. We’ve never taken it out of the friendzone, we’ve always kept it healthy. I’ve always been there for her, she’s always been there for me. From an unbiased perspective, it’s from pure love and I want to write about it.
Every man has been friendzoned at some point, every woman has been friendzoned. This situation, it’s mutual to keep it where we are. Because if you cross that barrier and it doesn’t work, you can never go back to being besties. It’s something that I felt like finally letting out. She’s known, I’ve known, so I let her hear the record before it came out. Now it’s out to the world.
AllHipHop: What is your take on relationships?
Sammie:: It’s beautiful. I’ve yet to have a successful one. I’m 0 for 3. I’ve been in 3 serious relationships, but i’m still hopeful. It’s about timing, it takes work. I can’t do it by myself, she can’t do it by herself. It’s a willingness between 2 individuals to be committed to one another everyday, and that’s my happy ending. I don’t care how much money I have, fortune or fame. If I don’t have a wife and a tribe of my own when it’s all said and done — I won’t say fail because then again, marriage is not in everybody’s card. But it’s something that I decided, so I look forward to running into my lioness and creating my own kingdom with her forever. I’m still hopeful that she’s still out there.
AllHipHop: What inspires you to make music today?
Sammie:: Life. Everyday is a song, you simply have to seek it. I take my life experiences and that’s when I tell on myself. I don’t answer the questions or the comments but in my music, I’m very vulnerable and transparent. Unapologetically vulnerable, so I have to live life. That’s why there’s always gaps between my projects because I have to go through things. I have to love, I have to hurt. I have to feel, then I’m able to release and truly create a body of work that resonates with the world. The more I live, the more music that bottles up inside of me and I’m able to let it out.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from your fifth studio album Such Is Life?
Sammie:: June 5th, Such Is Life will be available everywhere in the whole wide world, on all digital platforms. It’s a beautiful R&B project, I did this strictly for the R&B lovers. For anybody who said “if it doesn’t feel like nighttime, I don’t want it,” this is the album. I didn’t chase DJs, I didn’t chase the radio. I never chase these things anyway but sometimes I make sure I make a balanced project to where one record can go on the radio or do well in a strip club. This one is strictly for all those people who miss that Boyz II Men, Jon B, Joe, or Brain McKnight, the Usher’s, the Tank’s.
If you really want real singing, real substance and storytelling, music that’s going to make you believe in love again, music that’s going to help you heal again, then Such Is Life is for you. We’re all quarantined and chillin’, so it’s the perfect time. God’s so awesome, although my heart goes out to those directly or indirectly affected by this virus. This is a sad time in the world but there’s also some beauty in it. We’re getting very, very creative and becoming more innovative. We’re tapping into things we didn’t have time to do, because now we have time. I’ve seen a lot of unification. Music is healing, I want to give people music during this time to vibe to.
AllHipHop: Best memory on the Millennium Tour?
Sammie:: We only got to 6 out of 32, but every city holds a dear piece of my heart. I wasn’t on the first one so life is full circle, God is the equalizer. I’m blessed to be a part of the Millennium Tour 2020. It’s watching grown women who were once little girls, they tell me they used to put my magazine pictures on their wall or their locker in elementary or middle school. Now we’re grown together and still very much in love with one another. I’m in love with my fans, that’s why I call my squad the Sammie lovers. Because we’ve grown up together, there’s no disconnect.
The highlight by default was Indianapolis because I brought my birthday into that city and they made that whole night about me. I got to go around that entire arena, touch people and hug on them. Lloyd my big brother, he gifted me with a cake. Threw some cake in my face, it was good vibrations. I got to ring in my Jesus year in that city, but every city was beautiful. The rub downs during the Meet & Greets were nice.
AllHipHop: The rub downs?!
Sammie:: Yeah, I tweeted something one day being silly. “If you get a Meet & Greet, I’ll pick on one girl to oil me up before I go up on stage.” It went viral. It went crazy, all these girls started sending me… I like hands by the way. One of the first things I look at in a woman is their hands. I can tell a lot about a woman’s hand and her touch so I said “could you rub me down?” Now all these girls buy M&G’s. Every city, they’ll be like “are my hands good?” They’ll send me DMs of their manicures so I’d let them oil me down. A very intimate time. Johnson & Johnson should give me a whole endorsement deal because I definitely had a lot of baby oil in every city.
AllHipHop: Who’s in your Top 5?
Sammie:: I’m all over the place. I got the Jhene Aiko album going crazy, somebody please give her a Grammy. It’s so beautiful, press play and let it go. A masterpiece. Shameless plug, my sophomore project Sammie is now available on all digital formats. It hasn’t been for forever. We peaked in the Top 10 on the R&B charts, which is awesome. I got a little Sammie going of course.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_N_t5oB001
AllHipHop: Was that a longtime in the making?
Sammie:: I’ve been on Dallas for years trying to get him to do it. Dallas is so everywhere. He had to find out if he had the rights to it, then call Motown and get files from 14 years ago. It was a whole process, but we got that out. Who else do I listen to? I always have Drake in rotation, no matter if it was old or new. Brent Faiyaz, that s##t’s a vibe. I got that going. Dvsn dropped an album, I can’t get enough of it. That’s my guy. The Muse project, he can’t miss. I always look forward to his projects.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_KfPIohewN
AllHipHop: Talk about your candle line Pure Love and Pure Honey.
Sammie:: I’m a candle lover, always been. My mom kept one lit up when I was a kid. It sets the vibe, it sets a sense of peace and calm around your place. An opportunity came across my lap where I was supposed to host a grand opening of this candle shop. In the candle shop, you get to create your own candle. When they told me that part, I said “how about this, I’ll give you one better. I’d like to partner with you guys and create my own candle. I dropped this project Send Nudes, I have a song called ‘Pure Love.’ That’s a dope name for a candle.”
I went in, tried a different assortment of essential oils. I learned a lot about wax, soy wax, beeswax, coconut wax, all kinds of waxes and wicks. They educated me on how paraffin is unhealthy, it’s not eco-friendly. We really put in the time to make it healthy for you to inhale. It’s been beautiful. We did a soft launch party brunch, I sipped mimosas with my fans. They showed out and bought candles, I signed autographs. You can get it at popandpearlcandle.com. I’m actually working on a new fragrance to add to the collection, called Indigo. Blue’s my favorite color, I’m obsessed with blue. If you use blue dye for the wax, it taints the scent I’m looking for. I’m fascinated. I put in the same energy into my candles as I do my music. I’m hands-on. I had the apron, I had to sniff coffee beans because my nose was taking in too many scents. It’s a whole thing but I love it.
AllHipHop: Do you need candles in the studio to record?
Sammie:: Candles, wine, and female company so I can watch how she moves when I’m singing. If it’s a love song, I need to see it in her eyes. Every time I go to the studio, not a whole lot of girls, really need one. I need some candles, some type of liquor or wine, and a woman so I can feel that she’s connected to what I’m creating. They’re the best people to judge. If I’m singing a heartbreak song, she’ll make a facial expression if it resonates. If it’s a sex song, she’ll give you some body language. I like to look at a woman when I’m creating, I can tell if I’m onto something.
AllHipHop: Who are these lucky females?
Sammie:: I got some homies I can trust to give their honest vibes. I know they’re not going to leak the music, they’re not going to be on their phone. They’re going to sit with me and converse. It’s a real healthy thing for me. I sing to the women first, so I always need some beautiful energy around me.
AllHipHop: Any acting gigs?
Sammie:: Yep, I shot this pilot for this show called Misunderstood. I am playing this 29-year-old guy named Noah from Carson, California. Iit was awesome because I was thrown into the fire by my publicist. I always wanted to act but I never acted a day of my life, except for visuals which isn’t the same. I had to go to acting class and learn to be more vulnerable. Implementing some natural things about my human side of being Sammie into the character, so it was awesome. I miss the cast, they were family over those 3 to 4 days. I saw how tedious it is, it was 12, 14 hour days. I have a whole new respect for the craft of acting. I definitely want to merge into the big screen one day. I’m starting to get my feet wet now.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
Sammie:: I love everybody man, I want everybody to be safe. Stay positive, keep your head up. I think the earth is detoxing from humans right now and when we go back to earth, I hope we’re kind to her. That’s another thing to put into perspective.