Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Lee. She shares her story with us below.:
Born in Battle Creek, Michigan, Samantha Lee is a rapper, alt-model, and award-winning Music Producer. Samantha Lee began her musical career in Akron, Ohio in the mid-2000s. With her Michigan-styled quick and sultry-sounding rhymes, Samantha Lee entertained audiences after bartending shifts at local dive bars throughout her twenties and gained the nickname “Sultry Samurai.” In 2014 Samantha Lee relocated from Ohio to Florida to pursue her modeling career as a tattoo model.
In Florida, a watersports brand called “Salty Dog Paddle” cast Samantha Lee in the organization’s clothing and apparel line and featured her on amazon and in several print publications. In 2018 Samantha Lee appeared as a guest on Good Morning America as a representative for the brand and appeared on various major news outlets in connection with a news story about a dog the organization rescued from a tragic situation, which became the charity’s mascot.
The following year, in 2019 Samantha Lee played a stand-up paddler on Radio.com and 104.3 The Shark’s Internet television show – Career Day with Spanish and appeared in a nationally broadcast TV commercial for West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority. That same year, after winning a “Battle of the Music Producers” contest Samantha Lee became a Music Producer for Innerstate Records and relocated temporarily to Portland, Oregon where the Label is based.
Samantha currently performs as part of two acts; Obscurley (not to be confused with Obscurely) and Stellar Icaria, based out of Miami, Florida. She has produced music for several other artists under the Innerstate Records umbrella including Stormakastorm, Andii Styron, Backman, RODO, Weege/880 South, and Clint Warren. StormAKAStorm’s song “If you know, you know,” was nominated for a Grammy Award at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to becoming a Music Producer wasn’t easy. I didn’t lead a privileged childhood. Like a lot of other Michigan/Ohio-based Hip-hop artists, my childhood was similar to Marshall Mathers, who had a huge influence on my music.
I couldn’t afford the tools necessary to be successful at the time, so my music career was limited to Dive Bar performances opening up for acts like Insane Clown Posse and Kottonmouth Kings with the goal to one day open up for D12. It wasn’t until my modeling career took off that I was able to save up enough money to invest in a decent Apple laptop, a condenser microphone, and the software necessary to work as a music Producer.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think what sets me apart from other musical artists and Producers is my quickness. Growing up in Michigan and Ohio, people just talk faster and respond quicker. The people there are similar to New Yorkers in their quickness, we just have more extreme temperatures to deal with and fewer activities.
A lot of the kids I grew up with got into trouble which is really common. I focused my attention on music instead, kind of following in the footsteps of other successful artists from that area like Eminem.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m excited to be collaborating with Clint Warren on his debut EP entitled “Pacific Coast Reggae,” which will be released on October 14th of this year (2022). I spent the last 6 months recording the backing vocals and the audio production of that release, so I’m excited to see how all that hard work will pay off.
I also have a big change for one of my acts, Obscurley (not Obscurely). We’re taking down all of the old songs and replacing them with better Hip-hop / Indie Dance tracks that we’ve been tweaking since 2019. The new songs sound a lot more similar to Eminem’s old stuff mixed with Gorillaz and I’ve been fortunate enough to be working with Music Producers from both those acts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://obscurley.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obscurley
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/obscurley
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/obscurley
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/obscurley
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/obscurley
Image Credits
Caitlyn Bom of Bomshell Boudoir Studios – NY Studios (instagram.com/@caitlyn_bom)
