Hip hop meets the classics Soap mixes it up
Blending Hip hop, folk and Moroccan Rye music, Soap, aka Sammy is creating his own musical sound. I sat down to talk with him about family, musical inspiration and culture.
What first got you into hip-hop? Was there a specific moment that made you want to pursue music?
I grew up the youngest of 3 brothers so I was always influenced by what my brothers were listening to. The first hip hop album I remember listening to was Get Rich or Die Trying by 50 Cent, and that was because my oldest brother had just bought that CD. I just remember thinking that the beats, melodies, lyrics etc. were just insane. To this day I still feel the same way about that album.
Who were your biggest influences growing up, and how have they shaped your sound?
I grew up listening to everything from Jimi Hendrix to Tracy Chapman to Moroccan Rye music. I also grew up playing Cello for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras so I had a heavy classical / jazz background as well through that. I feel like my music or my style is just the byproduct of consuming and enjoying a lot of different genres and artists. I am a fan of sounds and simplicity. I like when the artist simply gives the beat or production exactly what it needs, nothing more or less. Every song I feel like I’m trying to decipher what the beat needs from a vocal perspective, and I try to do my best to get there.
How did your environment or upbringing contribute to your music style?
I think growing up as a Moroccan-American on the east coast, I gravitated towards other friends from immigrant backgrounds. Not exclusively but through those relationships I found out how similar we all are / how similarly we all grew up. Because of that, I feel like I grew up around so many cultures and different kinds of people that I’m able to understand a lot of different walks of life. My style and my music are kind of one and the same. It’s heavily influenced by the people who made me who I am today, family and friends. Most of the clothes that I wear are from companies and brands that my friends created, and all the music I do is produced in house by friends and family. It all feels organic and natural because it’s genuinely stuff I like, and the fact it’s all made by friends or family just adds to the dopeness of it.
What’s your creative process like? Do you start with lyrics, a beat, or a concept?
I usually start with a beat or make the beat, then I freestyle melodies with some semblance of words. Then I’ll lock in to some of the melodies I like and try to hear out the words I was saying or trying to say. Then I’ll go bar by bar and create the song by filling in the lyrics and molding the melody based on the original reference / first few takes.
How do you balance storytelling with creating a track that just feels good?
I think sometimes the story of a track is it feeling good, and sometimes how you say something means more than what you say, or can enhance what you’re saying. There is emotion in delivery, more so than words itself.
How do you see hip-hop evolving in the next decade?
I think it just keeps expanding in all directions. Blending genres, sounds, ideas, etc. as it should be. I think the only way to preserve something is by continuing to help it grow and evolve in to whatever it’s meant to become.
If you could collab with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?
I don’t know, I feel like all the artists I admire the most I don’t even want to collab I just like appreciating their art. People like Jay Electronica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Death Grips, Gucci Mane.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Probably something in film or painting because those are also things I do.
If you want to check out Soap's steeze and music, check out his IG @soap.wav
