Sammus’s Week in Pop
Sammus is the stage name adopted by Ithaca, NY producer, rapper, activist, and PhD student Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo). Known as much for her rousing stage presence as she is for her prowess as a beatmaker and lyricist, Sammus has spent the past several years cultivating a strong following of activists, hip hop heads, punks, and self-proclaimed nerds and geeks, among others. Now ready to make her Don Giovanni debut, she is poised to cement herself as an artist who consistently thinks outside boxes and dances across lines (and does other neat things with geometrical figures).
Hey everyone! Sammus here—your resident rapper, producer, PhD student reporting live from Ithaca, NY for IMPOSE on my favorite musical things this week. Partial disclosure: despite being absolutely in love with like, so much music I have to admit that I do a terrible job of staying on top of what’s new. Like I still haven’t listened to Blonde if that gives you an idea of how bad I am at this. So yeah, if you don’t mind my loose definition of “week” for this week’s “Week in Pop” segment, I think you’ll enjoy my top 10 list. The rest of the disclosure: writing up this list weirdly made me miss Total Request Live. Whoops now I’m showing my age (see my #10 pick for details).
1. “Mr. Romance”, Izzy True
If I were a better hipster I would brag a lot more about knowing Izzy True before they were doing national tours and popping up on The A.V. Club. But then I remember that that’s not actually a major accomplishment, since it’s pretty much impossible to live in Ithaca (where they’re currently based out of and which I do) and not know who Izzy True is. Still, I do take some smug pride in having heard their latest single, “Mr. Romance,” before the rest of you poseurs! Check out the Vrinda Jagota directed video below.
2. “Get a Yes”, Sad13
I’m going to brag again so get ready. When Speedy Ortiz’s frontwoman Sadie Dupuis tapped me to contribute a verse for her new solo project, Sad13, I thought I died. But it was when I discovered that I was the only feature on the project that I actually died (it’s been a crazy month to say the least). I say all that to say check out the first single from Sad13’s forthcoming Slugger LP, a really great pop song about consent called “Get a Yes.”
3. “Smiling (Quirky Race Doc)”, Open Mike Eagle & Paul White
Because a listicle of my favorite things wouldn’t be complete without some Open Mike Eagle on there, I wanted to include the music video for “Smiling (Quirky Race Doc),” the latest offering from his masterpiece of an album Hella Personal Film Festival. I just love the way Mike Eagle talks about the world. You might remember I made a whole song inspired by him (which premiered on IMPOSE in March). I’m just full of brags today, aren’t I?
4. Oblio, Old Maybe
Next on my list? Old Maybe. I first heard about Old Maybe while trying to set up the Philly stop on my forthcoming fall tour (details of that tour are here, thanks IMPOSE!). I reached out to my Don Giovanni labelmate Camae Ayewa, also known as Moor Mother, to see if she’d be free to play the show. Although she was #BOOKDT she sent me the names of a few other women of color in Philly doing interesting things with music that I should check out. Everybody on the list was super dope, but I fell head over heels in love with Old Maybe and that was that. So here’s their latest album Oblio:
5. “By The Light”, Moor Mother
Speaking of Moor Mother, my next pick is her new music video for “By The Light” (which actually DID premiere this week!!). Watch the video and then feel the shame washing over your whole being as you realize you will just never be as good as her no matter how hard you try. Then buy her BRAND NEW ALBUM Fetish Bones out September 16.
6. “Body War”, Show Me The Body
So, this list is feeling pretty Philly heavy so let’s shift gears all the way over to NYC. Last week I had the opportunity to open for the Brooklyn-based punk/rap/noise band known as Show Me The Body whose first stop on their latest tour was none other than Ithaca. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that their performance was one of the top three best performances I have ever seen. And I’ve seen Fishbone live. The energy was out of control!!!! If you have the chance to see them live, please do it or just consider this friendship over because it’s obvious that you’re absolute trash. Check out the video for “Body War” below.
7. “i took a walk”, Ruth Garbus
At least once a week I listen to the low-fi stylings of Ruth Garbus (sister to Merrill Garbus of Tuneyards). I came across her music at a show this past April at Vassar College — someone was playing her Joule EP before the first act got underway and by the end of the first song I was head over heels. Please listen to “i took a walk” below and then consume the whole EP.
8. “Them Changes”, Thundercat
I always knew Thundercat was dope just based on the other artists with whom he worked. In fact I used to be positively terrified of Thundercat’s dopeness. I didn’t want to listen to him out of fear that he would bruise my ego so badly it’d make me delete Logic off my computer so that I’d never attempt to make a song ever again. However one fateful afternoon last summer when I was wasting time at Urban Outfitters, “Them Changes” came on the speakers and forced me to take my head out of my ass. Immediately I raced to the front of the store and demanded to know who this heavenly-voiced creature was. The store attendant was useless so I looked up the lyrics on Google and left the store immediately so I could purchase the song and blast it on my car speakers. That night, and for the next two weeks I only listened to “Them Changes” and watched the video obsessively. Recently I was reminded of the song again for some reason and spent another two weeks listening to it exclusively until finally purchasing the entire LP on vinyl and digitally. Glad I got over my fear of Thundercat.
9. OB., “Long Day”
My second-to-last-pick is a brand new song and video from my labelmate. No not another Don Giovanni Records labelmate, my other label, duh. Those who have been following me for some time know that I started really taking music seriously when I joined up with NuBlack Music Group (NBMG), a label started by a few Black Cornell kids who had the primary goal of making good ass music. My next project is actually going to be a dual imprint between Don Giovanni and NBMG so that’s exciting. But enough about me—this next selection comes from my NuBlack labelmate and homie OB, a multi-talented and super mysterious producer, instrumentalist, and singer. Check out “Long Day” and then leave nice words please.
10. “Time Crisis”, Sammus
For my last selection I’ll make like Kool A.D. in his “Week in Pop” segment and share my own music. Below is the video for “Time Crisis,” the final single from my March EP Infusion. IMPOSE did a sweet write-up on the video here (no seriously, thanks you guys). The video was also directed by Vrinda Jagota (woah, full circle!!!) as well as Zoloo Brown. Thanks for reading, listening, and watching. Enjoy.
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