R&B veteran Sammie Leigh Bush Jr. is back… but for those of us that are in the know, he’s been around with solid music for some time now. He’s grown up before our eyes, that is if you’ve been paying attention since he released “I Like It” from his debut album, From The Bottom To The Top back in 2000. But he acknowledges that there have been gaps over the years where listeners might have deemed a hiatus as an unexplained absence. But whether it was taking a step back to attend school, deal with a management situation that had gone all the way south or just grinding on the mixtape scene, Sammie is back in the R&B forefront and committed to sticking around for the long haul. And now that he’s back in the mainstream and has your eyes and ears once again, he’s going to share his story. All of it!
I caught up with Sammie earlier this year following the release of his successful EP release I’m Him. During that interview he gave us a recap of his 18 year career, which included a break in order to live a normal life in high school, and a set back following his 2006 self-titled album because of a shady manager. We also talked about the Indigo EP and the buzzworthy I’m Him. If you want a recap, I suggest you go check out that interview: HERE.
As the Summer of 2017 is winding down Sammie has released his third official album, a thirteen song project filled with love songs, ballads, and a couple club hits. Titled, Coming of Age, Sammie reveals his most inner self on the album, for all fans, the wayward listeners and everyone in between.
That’s where this interview picks up. With Sammie on the road, supporting Tank on his Savage Tour, we caught up with the young star during the NYC stop to talk all things Coming of Age, the tour and much more…
Parlé Mag: Lets hop right into this new album, Coming of Age. You started with the “Bad Gal” single and now you have a bunch out, talk to me about those…
Sammie: We flooding them, we got “Bad Gal” out, “Good Life” with Rick Ross out, “Too Long” the official single, “Coming of Age” the title track and then we just put out “Shoes”. We gave them 5 tracks. There’s 13 on the album, but you know times are different. There used to be a time when you could just drop a single or two and make them go cop the album, but you have to make them support and go out and get it keep hitting them in the head—left jab, left jab, right hook, right hook, left jab.
Watch Sammie’s New Visual For The Single, “Coming Of Age”
Parlé Mag: How would you say this album is different from the last two EP project you put out?
Sammie: With the EP, it’s only 6 records so it’s like an appetizer. And I made sure sonically, I only stuck with the theme of I’m Him for the last project. I think the content worked, people were missing that love and praising women in R&B music. For some reason it’s been frowned upon to love. I’m that guy to bring the love back… and even in infidelity there’s remorse and that element of I want forgiveness for my transgressions. So I want to bring back the vulnerability and transparency back to the genre of R&B, but even bigger than that, I had enough time with my album to tell a whole story. 13 records, it’s a concoction of my life. 30 years of my life, me coming from a boy and now into the 30 year old man that I am. It’s giving them all of me and not just a piece of me.
Parlé Mag: You been around in this music industry well over 18 years—
Sammie: I take away the 4 years I went to high school, so 14 years altogether since I been in the business.
Parlé Mag: That said, why now with this Coming of Age album and concept? Fans who have been paying attention have really seen you grow up before their eyes somewhat.
Sammie: Yeah, but in spurts. I was out from the ages of 12 – 14 the first time. Then I took a hiatus to go back to school and get my education. Then they saw me from the ages of 18 – 22 as far as mainstream is concerned, that’s during the era of “You Should Be My Girl”, “Come With Me”, “Kiss Me Through The Phone”, and then I went through a terrible departure with an ex-business partner that forced me underground so to speak. I didn’t come back mainstream until last year when Shaderoom took a post of me messing around on instagram and that propelled me back to the forefront because that gave me a platform of millions, which reintroduced me to fans that grew up with me and also introduced me to fans who didn’t know who Sammie was. So I’ve come of age, but the world didn’t see it in its entirety. They saw it in segments. Now they get to piece it all together.
Parlé Mag: You’re on the Savage Tour with Tank, talk to me working with Tank and how you two connected on that.
Sammie: I co-wrote “Next Breath” with Tank back in 2012. It went number one Urban Adult Contemporary, but bigger than that he is someone I have always looked up to. I admire him, his spirit, his strength, his artistry, he’s a great songwriter, producer. He can play the keys, the guitar, he can do everything. I respect that. And he’s like family, like a big brother to me. A lot of people use that term loosely, but I’ve known him over a decade. His fiancé is like my sister, she used to be my background dancer when I was 12 years young (Zena Foster). We was out in L.A. a few months ago, partying. He asked me when I was putting my album out, I told him September and he so happened to be dropping in September. He said let’s go out on the Savage Tour together. And we mirror each other in a lot of ways. The other day when we did Good Day DC, he said, when I look at Sammie I see a younger me. And I look at him as an older me. Somebody that’s been able to stay consistent, stay relevant and remain on top of his game for this long. You don’t just end up in this game 14 years on accident. Or 20 years on accident. So we mirror each other and it just makes sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPoWoHjCZuY
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