Sam the Kid (Samuel martins Torres Santiago Mira)
Neighboorhood: Marvila
City: Lisbon [Lisboa]
Born: 17 July 1979
If 2001 was a decisive year for the growth of hip hop in Portugal, Sam the kid was one of the principal MCs responsible for the feat, alongside names like Mind da Gap, Bullet, Chullage, Micro e Valete, among others. His first album Entre(tanto) was released in 1999, but it was not until 2001, in large part due to his instrumental album Beats Vol 1: Amor, that the name Sam the Kid began to make noise among the faithful followers of hip hop around the globe.
Conceptualized around Samuel Mira’s (Sam the Kid’s) parents’ love story, Beats Vol 1: Amor, won over everything and everyone without great difficulty, and was considered by many familiar with the material as one of the best Portuguese albums of 2001. Recorded at home using a vast archive of samples collected from records, pornographic films, soap operas and telephone calls—private or not—Sam the Kid transcended the barrier that had until then relegated him to the suburbs of hip hop, [by] beating a path to the ears of those attentive to the genre, but until then inattentive to Samuel’s work.
When he saw the opportunity to record his debut album, Sam the Kid already had a portfolio of tracks, recorded at home on cassetes, mini-discs, CDs, and even a video camera.
It was after listening to 93 Til Infinity (1993) from [American hip hop legends], Souls of Mischief , that Sam began to plan a more explosive future for himself in hip-hop. The radio was the first vehicle Sam used to disseminate his music, mainly through the program "Repto ". Years later, in 2001, after various challenges and with two albums under his belt, Entre(tanto) e Sobre(tudo), Rui Miguel Abreu’s newly created Loop:Recordings offered Sam a record contract. The first release was Beats Vol 1: Amor.
The artist’s new album, Practica(mente), produced by EDEL, was released in December of 2006, and was considered universally by music critics and Sam’s peers as the best album of the year.
