[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
