Sam the Kid

Samuel Martins Torres Santiago Mira (born 17 July 1979), better known by his stage name Sam the Kid,^[2] is a Portuguese rapper and producer from Chelas, in the civil parish of Marvila, Lisbon.^[3]

Sam The Kid
Sam The Kid in 2024
Background information
Birth name	Samuel Martins Torres Santiago Mira^[1]
Born	(1979-07-17) 17 July 1979 (age 44)
Origin	Chelas, Marvila, Lisbon, Portugal^[1]
Genres	Hip Hop Tuga, political hip hop, freestyle rap (former), battle rap (former)
Occupation(s)	Rapper, producer, songwriter, music video director
Instrument(s)	MPC
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Loop Recordings, EMI, Edel
Member of	Orelha Negra
Website	tvchelas.com

Early life

Sam the Kid's music was primarily influenced by 93 'til Infinity (1993).^{[citation needed]} Sam the Kid's music is noted for a creative and extensive use on sampling, using his primary producing equipment, the MPC. In 1994, after leaving secondary school Escola Secundária D. Dinis in Lisbon at 15 years old, Mira established his first group, "Official Nasty" with school-friends Daddy-O-Pop, 2 Much and Sheriff, appearing in three concerts before dissolving in 1996, though they were still performing informally around 2004/2005.^{[citation needed]}

Music career

Sam the Kid released his first album Entre(tanto) in 1998.^[3] His second album Sobre(tudo), released in 2001, attracted the attention of then recently created Loop Recordings, who offered him a contract.^[4] It was in 2002, with the release of his third album, an instrumental record called Beats Vol. 1: Amor, that Sam the Kid began to enjoy a significant level of success; the album was considered by fans and critics to be one of the greatest Portuguese releases of the year. The album featured the song "Não Percebes", one of the biggest Portuguese rap hits, that touched on the issue of the "us vs. them" mentality in the genre.^[5]

In 2006, the artist released Pratica(mente), an album praised by critics as one of the most ambitious of the genre made in the country,^[6] a record that is still well remembered by fans.^[7]

Sam the Kid is considered to be one of the most important names of Portuguese hip hop,^[8][1][9] and one of the "most historic participants and drivers" of the genre in the country.^[3] In 2008, the musician was nominated for the second time for the MTV Europe Music Awards, along with Rita Redshoes, Buraka Som Sistema, Vicious Five and Slimmy.^[10] The artist was featured in a documentary named "Dicas do Vinil, com Sam The Kid", a work produced by public service broadcasting channel RTP.^[11]

The artist has been noted for taking a "radically open and eclectic" approach on his efforts to expand his audience,^[12] as well as refusing to sing in English, as did many of his contemporaries, when trying to break into more profitable markets.^[5] Sam started a new project named TV Chelas, a YouTube platform dedicated to Portuguese hip hop.^[3] The channel publishes content such as uncompleted music by Sam and other artists, podcasts, interviews and archived material,^[13] being one of the many new vehicles of promotion and critique of Portuguese-made hip hop, R&B and electronic music in the country.^[14]

Orelha Negra

Since 2009 Sam The Kid is part of the band Orelha Negra, where is plays synths and voice samples using MPC. The other band members are Francisco Rebelo (bass and guitar), Fred Ferreira (drums), João Gomes (keyboards and synths) and DJ Cruzfader (turntables).

Orelha Negra have released 3 studio albums and 2 mixtapes.

Discography

Main article: Sam the Kid discography

• Entre(tanto) (1999)
• Sobre(tudo) (2002)
• Beats Vol 1: Amor (2002)
• Pratica(mente) (2006)
• Caixa de Ritmos (2020)
• Um Café e a Conta (2021) (with Valete)
• Caixa de Ritmos 2 (2022)
• Quarto Mágico (2023)

See also

• Music of Portugal
• Hip hop Tuga

References

1. "RAPública nasce com Sam the Kid". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 2 October 2007. from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
2. "Sam the Kid, Mundo Segundo e Slimmy no Festival Calça Ferros". Jornal do Ave (in Portuguese). 26 July 2018. from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
3. Correia, Gonçalo (27 April 2018). "Sam The Kid e Mundo Segundo: "Quem diz que trap não é hip hop está a ser Rui Veloso"". Observador (in Portuguese). from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
4. Rodrigues, p. 67
5. Nitzsche, Grunzweig, p. 85
6. Belanciano, Vítor (7 December 2006). "Pratica(mente)". Público (in Portuguese). from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
7. Henriques, Paula (24 March 2017). "Mundo Segundo & Sam The Kid no mesmo embrulho". Diário Notícias Madeira (in Portuguese). from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
8. "Hip Hop em Portugal: 14 anos depois". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 18 March 2017. from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
9. Vaz Marques, Carlos (3 September 2004). "Sam the kid, de Chelas para o mundo". TSF. from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
10. "Buraka Som Sistema e Sam The Kid voltam a estar nomeados para prémio europeu de música". RTP (in Portuguese). 8 September 2008. from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
11. "Dicas do Vinil, com Sam The Kid – technical sheet". RTP. from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
12. Fradique, p. 4
13. Dantas Ferreira, Rita (2 September 2016). "Sam The Kid e Mundo Segundo: "Não podes dizer que és bom sem provas dadas"". Observador (in Portuguese). from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
14. Correia, Gonçalo (22 November 2017). "O hip-hop português é mais do que os "beefs" entre Piruka e Holly Hood". Revista Sábado (in Portuguese). from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2017.

Sources

• Nitzsche, Sina A.; Grunzweig, Walter (2013). Hip-Hop in Europe: Cultural Identities and Transnational Flows (Transnational and Transatlantic American Studies). Zurich: LIT Verlag. ISBN 978-3-643-90413-3.
• Rodrigues, Teresa Palma (2012). "Chelas, o "sítio": o lugar como referência na identidade e na obra de Sam The Kid" (PDF). Estúdio : Artistas Sobre Outras Obras (in Portuguese). Vol. 3. Revista:Estúdio. pp. 66–73. ISSN 1647-6158.
• Fradique, Teresa (2015). "Le rappeur et les "petites grand-mères":Deux ethnographies du cosmopolitisme comme médiation" [The rapper and the "little grandmothers": Two ethnographies of cosmopolitanism as mediation] (PDF) (in French). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links

• Official website  
• Sam the Kid discography at Discogs