SAMIYAM
Rap Beats Vol. 1
Self-released

Sam isn’t from Detroit and his music isn’t derivative of James Yancey. Sam is from Ann Arbor, about a forty-minute drive from the historic “D”, and now living in the greater Los Angeles area. If you had to describe his music, it’s the intellectual offspring of David Cronenberg and the RZA, but specially touched by Michael Jackson. Sam has been a bit mysterious—he’s often mistaken for someone’s alter ego and allowed very few to hear anything he’s made within the last two years. Rap Beats Vol. 1 is his first “official” release, sold exclusively from his Myspace page. Each CD is manufactured and mailed by Sam directly and cover art is crudely cut and slapped onto each case, accompanied by doodles over whatever magazines he happened to come across that day, whether a National Geographic or the finest porno mags in L.A. county. The best description for Rap Beats is the same for presentation as for musical value: raw!

— Andrew Meza