Seafood Sam - Cowboy Leather (Official Video)
Picture Credit: Jack McKain
Welcome to the lavish life of a laid-back transcontinental man of mystery, rolling in old school Cadillacs throughout Long Beach — the culturally diverse mecca of skate parks and gang life, street fashion and tricky dance moves. A blaxploitation icon for the Instagram age, blessed with the bars of a ‘90s legend and 23rd century swagger. Seafood Sam is a true hero of modernity. Today, Seafood Sam welcomes Pink Sifu onto "Cowboy Leather" the last piece of the puzzle for the Standing on Giant Shoulders LP, out now via drink sum wtr.
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.
"Cowboy Leather" is bassline-forward, unironically sprinkled with flute flourishes and backed by strings that add dramatic swells in a way that synths or drum machines could never. There’s an electricity in the way the full upcoming record Standing On Giant Shoulders takes a step back in time and back to basics in the coolest way possible. The record further features Goya Gumbani and Rae Khalil – with big band arrangements cooked up by Sam alongside collaborator Tom Kendall that call to mind smoky supper club rooms and lavishly tailored velvet suits.
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, 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, eating caviar with a blade in his pocket, 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; A rebirth of cool from someone secure in their own skin. A student of the classics ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder alongside giants. This is Seafood Sam’s time. We’re just living in it.