“Everything I talk about in my music is a real-life situation that I’ve been through,” says rapper SamRecks. “Even this conversation right now – I might take some notes from it and use it in a song.”
It’s one of the first things he says after emerging through the hustle and bustle of Shoreditch House, the chaos around us contrasting with Sam’s muted outfit. The musician is known for his vibrant attire, often rocking anything from vivid striped shirts to burgundy leather trousers, but today his look is much more understated: black hat, top, shorts, and shoes. Perhaps this shift in aesthetic reflects the focused mindset he’s in, considering he’s just a few days away from releasing his sophomore EP, ‘Balance’ when NME speaks to him.
Born in Nigeria, Sam moved to Thamesmead in southeast London at the age of three with his family in search of new pastures. He still resides there today: “The best thing about growing up there was the friends I made,” he reflects. “They’ve been instrumental in my life and in the music I’ve created. One of them in particular, ABiggie, has been a big part of everything that we do in terms of production, engineering, mixing and mastering. And when it comes to music, I don’t think anyone notable has come out of Thamesmead, so it feels like I’ve got something to prove.”
Sam’s love affair with music began in primary school, where he first started writing songs and poems. “I was always surrounded by music at home, watching rappers on TV, writing constantly – I was always a creative kid,” he explains. “I went through a lot of phases – at one point, I wanted to be a footballer, then a breakdancer – but music was always my main thing.” It was the writing aspect in particular that captured his imagination. During his adolescence, he immersed himself in the music of Kendrick Lamar, Wretch 32, J. Cole, and A$AP Rocky. Sam’s emphasis on lyricism became quickly evident; he’s made it a point to hone the pen he’s now recognised for. “[My] old songs really make me cringe,” he says, laughing.
First emerging in 2021, SamRecks’ discography has presented a varied platter of influences from across the globe. The 2022 track ‘Love & Attention’ is his most-streamed song on Spotify to date with nine million plays, while a snippet of last year’s ‘Situationship 2’ has been used by over 100,000 TikTok videos. His music spans everything from soul-searching lyrical introspection as seen on ‘SEGA’ to summer-ready bangers like ‘SUMO’ and everything in between.
His latest project, ‘Balance’, is no different, though his songwriting has become much more focused; its maturation beautifully encapsulated in opener ‘Everything’. The track begins with nostalgic keys and a grainy voice note: “Today’s the 27th of November, 2022… and it took me all these years to realise that money doesn’t mean anything – it’s the moments you create with money that mean everything.”
“I made that intro while working at Amazon [in a warehouse], so all those little beeps you hear in the background are from the machines,” he recalls. “Working there made me realise there’s so much more to life than material things. I used to place too much value on money and just wanted to be rich. Now, I invest in things I truly value, like my music videos… when I’m dead and gone, those are the things that will matter and live on forever.”
“If I’m being honest, nobody can say they’ve put me on”
His old job is a recurring theme throughout the project and is most poignantly expressed in the track ‘I Hate This Job’, which captures the frustration of pushing pallets for insubstantial wages in the warehouse, with his frustration palpable in every bar. “Every day I was waking up to do something I hated, when all I really wanted to do was make music,” he says. “I feel like it was needed because it kept me very grounded. I appreciate anything that’s coming in now more than I would have if I hadn’t worked there. ‘I Hate This Job’ was actually the first song I made for the project, and it set the tone for me to delve deeper into my music. So, really, I have a lot to be thankful for from that job in a way.”
Across the EP’s eight tracks, Sam raps with more confidence than ever, his nonchalant flows conveying an air of assuredness as he effortlessly switches from one lyrical pocket to another. “If I meet my idols now I swear down I’ll stay so composed / I can’t give power to the people I don’t know their souls,” he raps on ‘Everything’, touching on his grounded approach to fame. On ‘Better Days’, he goes toe-to-toe with Japanese rapper Jumadiba, who recorded his verse on a trip to London: “The way he’s flowing on there is mad, he’s different”.
As he sits across from NME, that self-assurance is on full display. Has he always been this confident? “I was really shy and quiet when I was younger,” he admits. “I used to just rap and keep to myself, to be honest. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve started to overcome that by speaking to and interacting with more people.”
Sam’s greatest strength is his authenticity, which permeates his music, the clothes he wears, and the videos he creates. There are no gimmicks or trend-chasing: just him, his music, and his artistic vision. While his rise may appear rapid, only releasing his first track in 2021, the years prior were defined by endless hours of sharpening Sam’s musical tools. He was exclusively working with his close friends, and despite his success, there’s still no features from prominent stars in the game.
“If I’m being honest, nobody can say they’ve put me on,” he says frankly. The lyricist is difficult to categorise, with his genre sparsity not exactly lending to any singular defining sound – even his drill-inspired tracks are a far cry from the genre’s gloomy origins or sample-heavy modern iteration. As he puts it simply, he’s “just trying to tell my story.”
A crucial aspect to telling that story is how he meticulously plans every layer of his musical world, where Sam juxtaposes visual surrealism and grandeur with his more grounded lyricism. He directs, edits, and styles each of his striking visuals himself. ‘Balance’ cut ‘HIT or MISS’ packages that world perfectly thanks to its vibrant setting that wouldn’t look out of place in a Dr. Seuss cartoon and eclectic styling that hits every inch of the colour spectrum. “I come to every shoot with a big suitcase, and none of it is rented,” he says with a laugh. “You can always tell someone to do it the way you want, but they’re never going to give the same energy because it’s not their life.”
Some might rest on their laurels knowing they’ve reached millions of streams and that an EP release is just around the corner – time to take a breather, perhaps. After our conversation concludes, Sam is already on the phone, planning his next music video, apologising for glancing at his screen. He says he plans to produce a music video for each and every track on the EP, and at the time of writing, Sam is already halfway there. Take a quick scroll through his Instagram and TikTok pages and you’ll be met by a sea of music video clips (alongside the occasional fit pic), that he endlessly promotes.
It all echoes what he tells NME earlier: “The day you stop is when you really lose.” If that’s the case, SamRecks is destined to keep winning.
SamRecks’ ‘Balance’ EP is out now