Samm (Amman)

Samer Zaki, aka Samm, recorded and self-financed his first rap album in 2001 but didn’t get much attention until 2008, when he collaborated with established Jordanian producer Damar. By the end of that year, Samm had a couple of hit songs on the Internet, including “Ana Sawh/I’m the Man” and “Alam Aswad/Black World”, and was interviewed on Jordanian TV. Samm also toured with the Amman-based rap collective known as “962 Street”, collaborating on a tribute song for Gaza. In 2009, Samm was chosen to represent Jordan on the popular Hip Hop talent show, “Beit Il Hip Hop/House of Hip Hop”, hosted by famed producer FredWreck on the Wanasa satellite network. Samm is currently working on his second solo album, which will undoubtedly feature appearances from some big names in Arab Hip Hop. In the meantime, Samm works as a teacher in a Hip Hop workshop for young Jordanians (like his mentor, Tamer Nafar of DAM).

www.myspace.com/sammrap

Gotta be somebody to get on Rotana TV’s “Shababi” show. In this interview, Samm talks about his Hip Hop story and his recent appearance on the “Beit Il Hip Hop” show with FredWreck.

Here, Samm performs his breakout hit, “Ana Sawh/I’m the Man” at a private school for boys in Amman. The double irony, of course, is the relatively large number of women in the audience.