[WATCH] Sam I - "Don't Give Up" / Heaven: Short Film Dance Rehearsal BTS

Sam I and Nevaeh Meraz, lovingly lifted from his Instagram

Not sure why I sat on this video for a few days, but after re-watching it again I’m tryna make sure that the inspiration gets spread around.

Before we get to the nitty gritty about why this video is specifically giving me The Feels™ imma make sure we’re all on the same page. TL;DR - Sam Speigel, whom we have adored thoroughly on this site for his N.A.S.A. projects is clearing the slate on any other AKA of his and will be moving forward releasing music as Sam I.

With that, he’s just released his debut full-length under his aforementioned new moniker titled, Random Shit From The Internet Era. The album is full of features from like…everybody? No but really. We’re talking Freddie Gibbs, Theophilus London, Doja Cat, Anderson .Paak, RZA, Barbie Hatch, etc. etc. As the name would suggest, it’s not exactly a “cohesive album” per say, as it’s more a collection of ideas that have been lingering around for awhile that he decided to finish and shoot out into the world. “I usually love to work conceptually,” notes Spiegel. “Call me old school, but I love making albums that have a theme or concept that carries you through the record.” For me, the magic of this record is knowing that some of these songs were ideas that were over 15 years old. Yes, you read right. That was not a typo. Some of these are 15 years in the making. It really speaks to the equally groundbreaking and timeless nature of Spiegel’s music IMO.

OKAY BUT LET’S GET TO THIS VIDEO BECAUSE YOU PROBABLY NEED THIS.

For his latest single, “Don’t Give Up”, which features Sia, Busta Rhymes & Vic Mensa (I fucking told you everybody is on this goddamn record 😂), Spiegel assembled some lovely behind the scenes footage from his forthcoming short film that he began working on prior to the pandemic. Would you be surprised to hear that COVID derailed his plans to shoot the film back in March? 🙄 yeah didn’t think so. The film is based off the real life experiences of a dancer named Nevaeh Meraz who overcame abuse, depression and suicide attempts to become an acclaimed performer.

As the backstory goes (because I refuse to spoil her part of the story), the way he and Meraz linked up was a byproduct of her tagging him in videos of her dancing to his music on Instagram. Some more random shit from the internet era, if you will. As he shares, “I was struck by her. She dances with so much feeling. It's all there...right on the surface. She lays it all out in her expression, not hiding anything.” Even though some filming restrictions have been lifted he decided to cut together some of the dance rehearsal and interview footage as a kind of behind-the-scenes prequel to the film.

When I say I was covered in goosebumps after hearing her story of how she got into dancing. Y’all…. 🥺 It’s so beautiful the way that a world of pain can produce moments like this. I hope taking four minutes and four seconds to have a glance at this video helps you remember that your life can dramatically change in an instant, so if you’re struggling right now like I feel like we all are (thanks stupid fucking pandemic), don’t give up.

(ps 404 - more random internet shit, I SEE YOU SAM I 🤪😂)

Watch “Don’t Give Up” below. If you want the full message from Spiegel about his decision to work under Sam I, I’ve included that after the video. 😊

A NOTE FROM SAM SPIEGEL, AKA SAM I

With Random Shit from the Internet Era, I’ll be releasing my first album as a solo artist. Like so many things in our world, I’ve gone through a huge transition these past few years, and I feel like I’m embarking on a new life…a new version of myself. I’ve always created music behind a pseudonym. It was fun to be N.A.S.A. because I love space so much. I could explore my passion for the foreign, the mysterious, the unknown, the unity of humanity, all of the things that space signifies to me. With Maximum Hedrum, the only rule in the studio with Derrick and I was to have fun so I expressed my goofy side. I wrote just to make Derrick and myself laugh, I explored my perversions, got psychedelic. But at a certain point I started to feel limited by these projects—like I wasn’t able to express all of the feelings, thoughts, and ideas I have within their concepts—so I started releasing music as myself, Sam Spiegel.

With N.A.S.A.’s “Jihad Love Squad” I started to learn how to work with moving picture and discovered my love for directing, which I continued developing as I embarked on a transitional period. I needed to clear my musical slate and release everything that I’ve had stored up for years; music that I’ve been wanting to release but has never fit within my other projects. It’s been a few years of putting out these random songs, some of which have ended up on Random Shit…

I’m clearing my slate with Random Shit… It is a new beginning for me. My music coming out going forward is not reiterations of old songs modernized, but where I stand now and into the future. It is day one for me in my new life as a grown-ass human and artist, and so I’ll be releasing everything from here on out under my new name, Sam I, both on the audio and the visual side. I hope you all come along on this new adventure with me. 

Lots of love and thanks for listening,
Sam I

[Watch] Earl Sweatshirt Debuts New Track Featuring RZA

Earl Sweatshirt was at Mayfest in Syracuse this past weekend, and while he was there he dropped a new cut from his upcoming album Doris. The features a hook from RZA, who wasn't actually at the performance, but it's dirty and amazing. It's cell phone footage, but you might as well check out the nameless track below.

[Watch] RZA Joins James Blake On Stage at Coachella

While weekend two of Coachella winded down without much noise, there was one moment that stood out. During his performance last night James Blake was joined by RZA, where the two performed their collaborative cut from Overgrown. While RZA hadn't fully memorized the lyrics to "Take a Fall for Me" (and really, can we fault him for that?), it was still fantastic to see the two on stage together. Check out the performance below.

[Listen] James Blake - "Take a Fall For Me" Feat. RZA x "Every Day I Ran"

Just yesterday we got to enjoy the animated video from James Blake for the track "Voyeur", which helped to build some more anticipation ahead of his new album Overgrown dropping next week on the 8th of April. Today the man himself takes to Tumblr to let loose not one but two brand new cuts from the record. Below you can stream "Take a Fall For Me" which features the lyrical finesse of RZA, a stand out for me personally when first hearing the album. Secondly there's the Big Boi sampling "Every Day I Ran". See what you make of the new tracks, and let us know if you think the second long player from Blake is going to live up to his stunning debut.

"Take a Fall For Me" Feat. RZA

"Every Day I Ran"

[News] James Blake's New Album to Feature Brian Eno and RZA

James Blake got us excited enough for his sophomore album Overgrown when he dropped the lead single "Retrograde", but a press release issued today revealed some tantalizing possibilities. What was simply a tracklist and artwork (pictured above) reveal proved to be much more than that, given the tracklist has both Brian Eno and Wu-Tang Clan's RZA as featured guests.

Gahhh!!! I don't know what to expect from these collaborations, but I'm very excited to find out. It's also worth noting that Blake recently spent some time with Kanye West and Jay-Z. While he did indeed hit the studio with Ye and Hov, it's not clear whether the three managed to record something worhtwhile together.

Below, you can check out the tracklist for Overgrown, as well as the video for "Retrograde". Overgrown is out on April 8th.

Overgrown Tracklist:
01. Overgrown
02. I Am Sold
03. Life Around Here
04. Take A Fall For Me feat. RZA
05. Retrograde
06. DLM
07. Digital Lion feat. Brian Eno
08. Voyeur
09. To The last
10. Our Love Comes Back

[Listen] Kanye West - "White Dress" (Alternate Version)

Kanye West's contribution to RZA's The Man With the Iron Fists Soundtrack, the smooth and seductive "White Dress", was a pretty standout track, and now the song gets a slight reworking with an alternate version. RZA dropped the new take yesterday, and it's more basic than the original, dropping the extravagencies in favor of a more sultry delivery. Check out both the original and the alternate versions below.

Alternate Version:

Original Version:

[News] Wu-Tang Dropping New Album Soon

This year has been good for a lot of things, but one of the better moments was seeing Wu-Tang Clan perform as a group on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It was one of those smaller moments that stood out, and after seeing RZA's The Man With the Iron Fists my Wu-Tang excitement levels have been at an incredible high. The group isn't done, though, as their long rumored sixth studio album has now been confirmed. Taking to their Facebook page, the group gave us this short yet tantalizing sentence: "New WU TANG CLAN Album coming soon." That's all that has been said, but given the 20th anniversary of Wu-Tang is next year, this seems pretty legitimate. RZA seems to think so too:

There’s one last job Wu-Tang Clan must do. The 20th anniversary is next year. And we need to, one time, completely, efficiently, properly, professionally represent our brand. One more time. But this time, showing up on time for press and for concerts and studio. Do it one time, perfect."

(via The New York Times)

[Watch] Wu Tang Clan - "Six Directions of Boxing" Live on Fallon

Last night Late Night with Jimmy Fallon pulled off an amazing feat in that they managed to book Wu Tang Clan for a performance. Yeah, that happened. Backed by The Roots the gang laid down a version of the recently heard "Six Directions of Boxing" which wil feature on RZA's movie soundtrack for, The Man With The Iron Fists. Check it out at the top courtesy of The Audio Perv.

Last night we also got to see The Black Keys and RZA battle it out over a fortune cookie in the video for "The Baddest Man Alive". Check that out here.