Merging The Spiritual With The Secular, Meet Artist Samoht

Jan 7

Jan 7 Merging The Spiritual With The Secular, Meet Alt-R&B Artist Samoht

On the surface, Samoht may appear to be just another male R&B artist. In this day and age, it can be hard to distinguish what makes one standout from another. However, make no mistake; this North Carolina singer/songwriter is a cut above many of his peers and contemporaries.

Arguably one of the most talented vocalists to emerge in the last 10 years, his inhumane singing abilities have earned praise from Brandy, India Arie, Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris, Kelela and Luke James. All one has to do is quickly look at his appearances on the popular YouTube programme ‘The Terrell Show’ to see why few today can hold a candle to this gentleman.

Arriving onto the scene with his debut single ’39 Weeks’, he has since released a number of projects including ‘Omen’, ‘Mxxn Wave’ and ‘Exit’. Towards the end of 2020 he released two EP’s; ‘CLEAR’ and ‘ALPHA’. A highly abstract pair of works serving as a celestial oasis for both himself and his growing legion of fans. The concept of the latter project was conceptualised following a dream where he was walking down a quiet street, and two figures with skin resembling star dust offered him gifts.

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““Their skin looked like something out of ‘The Mummy Returns’. You know when the mummy had its face in the sand, but this time it resembled diamonds and crystals.””

He recalls being given a choice to keep walking or accept what these mysterious creatures were offering but unfortunately woke up before his dream counterpart could make a decision. Samoht maintains that the dream had a divine purpose. “It was a projection of the wealth that was happening. Not just for me, but for you and everybody else”.

Wealth in this context being one of realisation and acknowledgement of necessary change. But before he could lean into the path being called upon him, he knew there was critical and internal work to be done. Those conversations with himself led to the creation of ‘CLEAR’. “I think as long as we are alive here in this dimension on earth, there's going to always be something that we are learning about ourselves. I think life has a way of giving us stuff in increments, so that we can process it.

Despite ‘ALPHA’ being recorded and completed before ‘CLEAR’, Samoht was adamant that he needed to ‘clear’ himself of anything that could distort his potential. The brooding and self-examining nature of many of the songs on ‘CLEAR’ are in line with a re-occurring theme that has grounded almost all his work to date. With each project, Samoht has used his art as a means to express the ongoing journey he’s on to becoming the best version of himself, shedding any dead weight along the way.

Fragments of Samoht’s catalogue contain evangelical undertones and could be interpreted as a form of religious ministry. Many of his tracks emit the similar feelings of spiritual contentment, that one would get from listening to gospel music. “My definition of ministry is an act of serving. So, if a song of mine serves someone to where they feel better about themselves, more confident about themselves or feel understood”. The folk influenced ‘Be Ok’ recalling the work of renowned gospel icon Fred Hammond, is an uplifting testimony about finding the inner sanctuary residing within you. Though ‘Be Ok’ and other tracks like the affecting ‘I Forgive’ and country tinged ‘Nowhere Nowhere Nowhere’ bear church-like properties in their essence, he’s quick to emphasise that he is not a gospel artist. “There's a certain lifestyle that comes with that. All of my music and every part of my life isn’t that and I don't want to project that. I’m doing what’s natural to me”.

The gorgeous and emotionally wrought ballad ‘Lingering’ is the supreme standout on ‘CLEAR’. Inspired by a previous relationship that was still acquiring space in Samoht’s heart. “One of my friends said my ex's name and it had been months, but I felt like there was still something there. I was ready for nothing to be there. Ready for all the hope to be gone.” With a soaring vocal performance and meditative piano accompaniment, Samoht effortlessly brings to life the palpable pain and frustration that comes with the spiritual bondage of an old flame no longer serving him.

““I prayed for the day that I felt nothing. It takes some time when a soul tie is involved, I’m no longer lingering but I had to admit that there was a linger there. There’s something about when you acknowledge something that it opens the door for you to walk out of it.””

The material on ‘ALPHA’ in contrast is markedly more brash and brazen in temperament. A manifestation of his newfound liberation and freedom, listeners can hear the mental shackles that had stalled him done away in full force. “If you don’t clear yourself of your trauma, you will grow into a toxic alpha. I wanted to clear myself of all that and then I could become the true alpha from within. And they connect because once you clear yourself, then you can be your higher self.”

Brimming with trap beats and 808 drum patterns, the production is harder and more insistent. Juxtaposed against the inward and stripped back feel of ‘CLEAR’, it’s an appropriate sounding board for Samoht to flex and exhibit his inner alpha male characteristics. Braggadocios tracks ‘Sex God’ and ‘Naomi’ in particular reveal signifiers of his southern charm, confidence and virility.

Decorated with beautifully complex harmonies ‘A B S’ thematically picks up where ‘King God’ from 2019’s ‘Exit’ left off. An unremorseful and valiant proclamation of one’s blackness. With complete disavowal of conventional song structures, Samoht condenses essentially three songs into one. Illustrating the layered nuances of the black experience with candour and ingenuity.

‘CLEAR’ and ‘ALPHA’ are companion projects. Different in sound but complementary in displaying the duality of Samoht as a man and an artist. He is at the beginning of an imperial phase of his career as a writer, vocalist and most importantly, visionary in the making. Inspired by Diddy-Dirty Money, Tyler The Creator, Kid Cudi, BANKS, Kirk Franklin and J Moss, he wants to continue their lineage of pioneering musical advancement. “They went to another dimension. There are artists who are on earth. And then there are artists like those guys who have their own planet”.

An elevation of everything he’s put out thus far, he’s managed to synthesise all the musical stimuli he’s accumulated over the years. Crafting bodies of work that to date are his most focused. Drawing from the disparate sounds and sensibilities of trap, blues, country, gospel and CCM, to fashion a distinctive strand of R&B that is totally his own.

“ “I’m now making music that I’m a fan of and I’m starting to feel that I have my own planet as well”.”

And it’s happening at a timely juncture where he’s gradually starting to garner attention from notable artists. Samoht’s unique sound and extraordinary vocal chops were enlisted by Luke James last year to feature on ‘shine on’. The euphoric and transcendent slow jam from the GRAMMY-nominated album ‘to feel love/d’, “I appreciate him because he could have got anybody. Anybody who's like, you know “bigger”. But he resonated with my sound and was like “I want that guy on my album”.

His blossoming career has even parlayed into a high-profile opportunity being handpicked to tribute the legendary Brandy at The BMI Awards. Performing a rousing and sanctified rendition of her 1995 classic ‘Brokenhearted’, later receiving props from the vocal bible herself. “You got to understand, I'm not on a label. The connects that everybody else has, I don't have but I’m growing. That moment was so magical. Brandy said to me “can you teach me your runs” which means I must be doing something right”.

Recognition and admiration from such esteemed talents at such an early stage in Samoht’s journey is a true testament to the fact that he is one to watch. He’s aware that it may take some time for people to catch up, but he embraces this. “I have a label that I’ve started called MXXN WAVE. It’s us saying, we're not going to wait. We're powerful enough to create our opportunity and just figure it out as we go”. His current signings include artist/producer called Wilke$ and singer/songwriter named Kalipop. Later this year they will be releasing a compilation project, which was teased last summer with a salivating sample track called ‘Like Diamonds’. And that is just one of the many things to be expected from the charismatic artist. In the coming months, he will be releasing a visual for ‘ALPHA’s’ second single ‘Us At Night’. A new full-length album is also on the horizon, which Samoht promises will continue to push R&B further out of its linear enclosures.