Gusting in from the windy city of Chicago, SoloSam is a savant in many ways, having played Division I football, assembling his own cooking portfolio, and onward to the infrastructure he’s built for himself through music. He’s become accustomed to some notoriety as he has numerous, global publications for a share of his crafts. Today he’s amassed nearly 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify for his musing hip-hop sound.
Growing up in the city provided for his grind mentality, plus a strong family foundation of creativity (his father, renowned Ghanaian painter Samuel Akainyah). Having made music for some time, things had started to align pre-COVID and resumed post-COVID. His debut project, Itis, was a brilliant introduction into the identity of his sound. Identity was a particular point he emphasized he feels Chicago artists center themselves.
“Runnin Around” opens the project and features one of my favorite bars of his "Y'all n****s gassed up, y'all n****s unleaded, I said it". This body of work purports that grit and grind that has gotten him to his point. Itis referring to the gluttonous feeling of overwhelmingly good food, so with that in mind, this project provides an abundance of good music and inspects the glut of ideas of a young artist coming out the city.
As far as the music goes, he said “I just try and make sh*t I would listen to”, and that obviously indicates his evidently good taste. PRINCIPLES TO DIE BY followed Itis, which offers some amazing self-production from the man himself, in what he details was an ego-death project. "WISL" is a distorted, nearly spooky track with more of Sam's great vernacular. "Traffic Jam" is a preferred song of his own, also featuring a schematic music video directed by Ayo Akesanya. But the album overall is soulful, personable, and extends to the tastes of smooth music lovers. The album actually parlayed into the coming of his own cooking show, PRINCIPLES TO DINE BY, hosted by Dark Matter on YouTube, which unites his love of music and cooking into this brilliant show with some delicious at-home recipes, which was recently renewed for another season.
“Calabasas” is his first single of 2022, released earlier this August in collaboration with MFnMelo. The song encapsulates the intrusive thoughts of the ambiguity of wealth and fame—a type of lifestyle often found in the luxurious suburb of California. The song carries on the notion of his relatability, to a crisp, mesmerizing compilation of violins and trap knocks.
On a personal note, he enjoys peace of mind and sanctuary, often cruising the streets of the Chi on his Moped. To mention some of the sounds SoloSam’s taking in—BlvckSvm & Dijon to name a couple. We asked about a dream sit-down meal with three brains to which he replied, “Kid Cudi, Action Bronson, and Druski” (a perfect combination of comedic relief and savory food).
In the meantime Sam will be working on continuously building out his brand and streamlining his way to success, practicing as he calls it "Self-Sustainability". Be on the lookout for more music, some local performances, and go stream "Calabasas" down below!
Follow SoloSam:
IG: @solosam
Twitter: @TheRealSoloSam
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