His manager Paul Akhimie had been on my tail to find time to hear his music and do an editorial for months now. The truth is, Paul has good ears for music and if he throws his weight behind an artiste, that person must be unique. Although our schedule kept clashing he never gave up. Somehow we met up and the destination was in a recording studio where the artiste was voicing one of his upcoming soon to be released tracks. How I love how things panned out, an opportunity to hear the artiste do his thing without the luxury of producer’s edit and filters. It was like an audition, if he’s got it he was guaranteed an editorial from me. If not, I would just smile and tell them that he’s got more work to do.

As I walked into the studio and heard him singing from the vocal booth, I was like, this homeboy can sing. Vocally strong, technically superior and the texture of his voice coupled with how it’s delivered is far from usual, it’s genius. Sammy Fariz who started his sojourn into music as a rapper in his formative stage has metamorphosed into a singing bird. Born Salman Al Fariz in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, this lad is a New Age Afrobeat artiste of repute, with a strict blend of Dance Hall &various Afrocentric sounds. He broke into the spotlight in December 2016 under the Espee Entertainment Imprint with his hugely successful debut single ‘Eko Ni London’ (still growing as at press time). He has truly come a long way ever since that point, getting massive airplay and love from major radio stations in Nigeria & making the number one spot consecutively on major radio/TV shows across the country. With the video to this single creatively delivered by Clarence Peters, it is obvious why it gained massive traction.

According to reports, Sammy’s sound took new heights on the global sphere when top Afrobeat DJ Edu of BBC 1Xtra made his song a regular feature on his playlist, on the popular Destination Africa show. Ever since then his ratings have been rising and his fan base is spreading across the globe. A jazz rendition of the hit single ‘Eko Ni London’ was as well made by American Jazz prodigy, Bryan Thompson, who has worked/performed alongside top acts such as Tank, LaLah Hathaway & legendary Jazz artiste, Kenny G. By the time his sophomore single titled ‘Ki lo Gba’ produced by DJ Coublon made it out, everyone could attest to the fact that Sammy Fariz isthe truth! In the song, Coublon’s team, such as Klem, co-wrote and also did back-up vocals, while Fiokee, the eclectic guitarist put in the strings to create this bouncy, infectious, sing-along Afrobeat tune.

– Sesan Adeniji

Culled from Mystreetz Magazine( DJ Neptune edition)