OkaaySami’s melodic storytelling, much like her voice, is guttural, drawn somewhere from the depths. The 20-year old Toronto rapper with a co-sign from The Weeknd has plenty of eyeballs watching her star ascend. Amidst the fervor over her talents and potential, Sami stays grounded.
“I miss a lot of opportunities—like, huge opportunities,” she told FMHipHop.
Sami has strong opinions. From her support for Lil Nas X (“People really wanted him to be a one-hit-wonder and look at him now.”) to her taste in rock music (“I like to listen to Arctic Monkeys.”), Sami is a high-speed creative computer. Particles of pop culture fly from her brain into the ether, informing her polished brand of music.
“I love writing. I wrote Make a Wish in just 15 minutes, so I just wrote it quickly,” Sami said.
Make a Wish, a hyphy exercise in swag, is a track that’ll make you wish your neck swung on ball bearings. But for all the bravado on wax, Sami remains an empath, studying social work in college and giving back to the community by organizing a budding youth group.
“We’ve been working on building a health organization for black & brown youth because our communities don’t take mental health seriously. So, we’re working with the city councilor of Brampton, Charmaine Williams. We’re going to have activities for them and we’re gonna make it ages 13-to-21. I’m really excited for that to kick off.”
Wandering & Wondering
OkaaySami is something of a creative wunderkind. She edits 90% of her videos. She’s an avid reader, too. “I love authors that can describe what’s going on to the point where you can literally see the image in your head,” she said.
Sami is a natural and not just in the way she crafts her bars—She writes fiction on the popular e-literature platform Wattpad.
“I wrote about this girl that was in a domestic violence relationship. She ran away and started a new life with a new name,” she said.
Sami’s lyrics are similarly hard-boiled. “My music is based on real-life emotion.”
So, what about that Weeknd co-sign? Sami is a graduate of the famed crooner’s music initiative designed to help cultivate creativity and the arts in Toronto youth. “It’s just a great way to connect with other black creatives and enhance your career,” she said. “That program made me get a cool tattoo.”
As her recognition continues to climb, Sami knows that with fame and success comes detractors and naysayers. “People get jealous of growth,” she said. “They don’t want to admit it but a lot of people do get jealous of growth.”
It’s no wonder then that Sami’s happy place is the land of creativity, a place where one can craft their own reality. When asked the name of her eventual memoir, she giggles. “Inside Wonderland.”
