Seafood Sam - Saylo (Official Video)
Photo Credit: Jack McKain
Long Beach rapper Seafood Sam announces Standing On Giant Shoulders, his new album for drink sum wtr due out on April 19.
Seafood Sam is already a local Long Beach County hero — known not only for “combining organic, nostalgic beats with a future-facing flavor” (GQ) but for throwing wild bowling nights, roller-skating with the utmost swagger, and treating his dog to the most OD at-home spa treatments possible — but Standing On Giant Shoulders heralds his ascent to an entirely new musical level.
Out now is lead single “Saylo,” a tribute to the inspiration and motivation supplied to Sam by his son Salem. The track begins with Salem’s laugh and an expressive instrumental swirl before the roller rink-ready disco bass pulse kicks in. Sam’s flow is stoned but confident — a quintessentially West Coast delivery that pairs beautifully with his smooth R&B croon on the chorus. The lush production is punctuated with brass figures seemingly pulled straight from Philly soul classics, though performed organically in the studio according to arrangements cooked up by Sam alongside collaborator Tom Kendall. As a result, “Saylo” radiates an immaculate warmth.
On Standing On Giant Shoulders, his full-length album debut for drink sum wtr, Seafood Sam unveils a forward-thinking sensibility rooted in ancestral soul. He’s a virtuosic rapper, a stop-you-in-your-tracks singer, and a symphonic producer. The giant shoulders in the album’s title refer to James Brown, Bobby Brown, and Miles Davis — the holy trinity who inspired Sam’s process. From the Godfather of Soul, Sam took a perfectionist’s rigor and focus. The example of Bobby Brown lent an unshakeable confidence and self-belief. While the constant artistic left turns of the trumpeter that birthed Cool offered an aspirational archetype.
He has the unique ability to conjure lucid scenes with an economy of language: Whether it’s a sun-dappled Sunday drive amid the palm trees of his hometown, a G-funk gospel choir where Warren G guests on an Isley Brothers tune, or a Blaxploitation protagonist decked out in vintage Pelle Pelle blithely eating an apple and plotting his next move, there’s an almost cinematic quality to his music — every track summons a fantasia of West Coast cool.
It’s the evidence of a master, a young sensei in the model of Quincy Jones. All rhymes, singing, production, and arrangements were handled by Sam – with an assist from Tom Kendall of the Long Beach group Soular System. It’s the rare modern hip-hop album that demands to be heard on vinyl, an arsenal of sample-free soul-funk without skips. It’s hard-edged and lyrical enough for disciples of Larry June and Roc Marciano, but orchestral and melodic enough for fans of Anderson .Paak and H.E.R.
In recording Standing On Giant Shoulders, Seafood Sam sought to elevate his game and deliver a record that not only stood the test of time but could provide an example for his son — a future classic that bridges the generational divide between his titanic musical idols and what’s coming up next. While such lofty ambitions can only be realised through time’s passage, there’s no denying that, in an era awash with retreads, Seafood Sam has staked his claim as a true original.