“clear my mind, clean my soul, heal my heart”

Samoht’s voice does not discriminate. It is his voice that brings you to the mood it sets: dark, introspective, and bothered. Engaged with themes that haunt most poets, like love, existentialism, and heartbreak. Yet the voice is what makes these emotions feel like you are swimming in honey; you move slowly through the feels that Samoht’s music generates, but the experience remains sweet. Like quicksand, it slowly sucks you in until you become one with the sonics.

On his latest EP, Omen, he manipulates that tenor voice with psychedelic-trap production that does not shy away from having a electronic/dance sensibility. The result is an interesting combination of the earnest and eery that is captivating.

AFROPUNK sat down with Samoht about his album, his world tour (that stops in Brooklyn on December 6th), and more.

The title of your album, Omen, reminds me of something dark and imminent. What was your mindset during the creation of this album?

God had given me a few signs that some things in my life had died and that I couldn’t bring those things into the new season of my life. Omen was me accepting what had happened and dealing with the reality that things shifted. Right before the creation of Omen I was betrayed by the love of my life and two of my good friends. I shared a lot of good moments with them and I didn’t understand why they went about things the way they did nor did I want to accept that our seasons were up. I felt nothing but death around me. I needed Omen to release that out of my mind, body, and soul.

Who are your musical and artistic influences?

Nature inspires me the most. When I’m surrounded by plant life I hear sounds and melodies out of the silence. As far as other artist, my catalog is very broad. All the artist I listen to are artist I’d want to work with. I listen to Solange, Gucci Mane, Future, Drake, Kid Cudi, Imogen Heap, Bork, Thunder Cat, Toro y Moi, Tyler the Creator, SZA, Myron Butler and Levi, L Spencer Smith, John P Kee, Kanye West, Darrell Walls, BANKS, and I’ll end with Eric Witacre. There’s many more.

“Dragon Boy” is my favorite track. Lyrically it feels both spiritual but also has a lot of trap sensibilities. What was the creation process of this song?

Dragon Boy was a voice note in my phone. I played it for my boy Greg Cox (producer/artist) and sung the beginning melody and he took it to another realm. I wanted to have fun with the record. The context of the song was me taking notice of how people who feel like they have an image to up hold don’t express how they’re really feel. This song was me saying “I’m not doing that with my Art”. Dragon Boy was produced, written, and recorded in 3 hours. It was the Second song I created for OMEN.

What is the difference between a live Samoht performance versus recording? What can your audience look forward to?

My recorded music is like a fashion editorial shot by Gilles Bensimon. My live performance is like an R&B short film by Quentin Tarantino. I don’t record anything in the studio that I know I wouldn’t be comfortable performing live. Knowing I’ll have to perform 12 to 14 songs back to back every night on tour helps me create songs I know won’t effect my voice in a negative way in the years to come. So I focus on getting a solid record in the studio but when it’s time to go live, I like to switch it up from time to time with new melodies. Doing that keeps it exciting for the people at the show, my team, and myself.

“Me and God” is confession and beautiful, which made me wonder what was the last thing you told God that you can share with us?

The last thing I told God was “Clear my mind, clean my soul, and heal my heart of my Ex and the things I buried in it long ago” Through my last situation I took a moment to really think about what happen and I noticed that there was a pattern. I realized that I have the tendency to place people in positions in my life that they don’t qualify for or they probably don’t even want. I also realized this came from me being codependent and controlling. Which can be a crazy combo. The most important lesson I learned was that people have the right to leave a situation when ever they feel. I can’t force anyone to be anything to me they don’t want to be. That lesson allowed me to see and accept that I don’t have to be loyal to anything or anyone that does not elevate me or reminds me of the King I am.

Samoht is performing live in NYC on Decemeber 6th.