When someone has it, you just know. You know it when you see it, when you hear it. “It” isn’t scientific, it’s mystical, primal. According to WYSO music contributor Greg Simms Jr, Dayton, Ohio based vocalist Samuri West has it, and he set out to talk to her more about her art and work.
Greg Simms Jr.: Your name, is it your real name or your stage name? How did you end up with it?
Samuri West: My name is both my real name and my stage name. It is a mixture of my first and middle name. Someone had misheard me while they were drunk, and said my name phonetically as “samurai.” It stuck immediately and through time my spirit recognized that name; as I have transformed into the person I am, it is imperative for my being to embody the meaning of the word. Much like Sarai being blessed with the name Sarah, in biblical text, it is congruence with a shift of the times in consciousness, blessings and responsibilities.
Simms: You're a vocalist. Describe your sound for someone who isn't familiar with you.
West: My sound is a collaborative reflection of all my inspirations; alternative & easy-listening, jazz & rock’n’roll, a touch of the blues and unmistakable RAP that will motivate you thru your grief, move you to dance or at least smile with me thru it. And you know it gets funky.
Simms: How long have you been singing professionally?
West: I have been singing in general all my life. I remember the first trophy I had, it was a talent contest. I sang something and won. I forget what the song was, but I got first place. That trophy still sits in my recording studio as a reminder and motivation “from way back”, that I was given these gifts for a reason. Music has ALWAYS had my heartstrings. As far as professionally, it might have been around 2020 when I started performing at shows and venues. I was promoting the new music I had out at that time, and getting more familiar with performing under bigger stage requirements, navigating through audience intimidation, and how to work in professional recording studios. I released several singles in the year of 2020. Had a band before Covid and that took us out of show business for a while. My most recent professional singing gig is as a lead vocalist aka a “SmoovTime Queen” in SMOOVTIME, we have some industry P-Funk and hip-hop legends in the band and I am very honored to work next to them.
Simms: Your most recent single is ”Bad Side”. What's it about?
West: My most recent single is “Calling You (ft C-Money Baby).” I released that one this past July and “BAD SIDE” was the first release of the year. Ironically the two songs are a paired story of “Love & Lust.” “Bad Side” is an original song that tells a tale about an interaction between a man and woman at a nightclub, the checks and balances, while “Calling You” is a cover remix/original with a featured artist, and reflects pure love and desire for a person to be around. Both songs are expected to be re-released as a visual project sometime next year.
Simms: You have a presence in Dayton, do you plan to expand it? Do you plan to tour out of town any time soon?
West: I do plan on expanding. One way is through a lineup of shows and community events, especially for this new album and label project we are working on. Audience growth is needed to expand properly and book more reputable music venues. The goal is to incorporate help to the community in areas that often get overlooked, while accomplishing these art endeavors. I do have a nonprofit for that as well called Lavender’s Love. We have some things lined up at my studio, which doubles as an event venue, that we will be reaching to the community and giving back where it’s needed and wanted. All our events and updates will be on our Instagram and Facebook pages! My team and I are very excited.
Simms: You are an entrepreneur as well as an artist. Tell me about your businesses.
West: My businesses include a health and wellness brand, a cleaning company, a recording label, and as previously mentioned, a non-profit organization that is new.
Samuri Sound Studios is where we do everything as far as media. The recording studio, the event space and music venue, the variety show we have on YouTube titled “The Vibe Hive Live Show,” as well as it is the hub for my other businesses.
I became a recording engineer, through experiencing the hardships an upcoming female artist might encounter. I saw and went through a lot. I was tired of only being able to work with men in order to record, so I enrolled myself into a school in L.A. called The Recording Connection where I earned my audio engineering certifications. To this day I give discounts to women artists, as well as provide the safest most professional environment for ALL people. When an artist or author comes into my studio for my services, they will not only be met with industry standard quality recording, equipment, and know-how, but also completely safe to express their audio artwork, and know that I have resources to take them as far as they aim to go!
West Health & Beauty (WHB) is where I make and sell a wide-scope of all natural body care products, as well as fitness therapy and diet regimes for total body wellness. I named (WHB) to honor the person and side of my family who introduced me to anything and everything natural and holistic; my father and his family, thus “West”. I wanted to bring honor and respect to our family name, while helping everyone I could to receive not only the proper natural vitamins, herbs and foods, but also deliver these nutrients and recipes at a safe and trusted avenue, as well as my expertise in fitness and healing.
I also own a cleaning company called Queenly Cleaning, where my employees and I provide top quality cleaning and organize both commercial or residential spaces. I found the things I was heavily good at and decided to go for it! I am an expert cleaner and am very particular about doing it the most perfect way the first time. So, creating a cleaning business was a no-brainer.
The newest one would be the Lavender’s Love Non-Profit Organization. We focus on helping aid and benefit single-income households of developmentally disabled children whose families are struggling to either support themselves financially or mentally and spiritually. At a more local perspective, we extend love through food and clothing to the community, classes for children to do music and art, helping with isolated community incidents and other families who might be in need. We plan on expanding our community resources in order to help an increased amount of families who might find themselves in need.
Simms: With your schedule, how do you find the time to create new music?
West: Mondays are always “Music Mondays” and I make sure I have at least one other day in the week to do some music by myself. It’s a self-discipline that I honestly need to be better at! Being an entrepreneur is tough. You must be able to withstand times of uncertainty. Then life itself has its own equation for making things more difficult. However, I always have had my mind made up of following my dreams. I build my schedule around making sure I have time to do what needs to be done, in any capacity.
What’s funny to me is when I look back, the same mindset I was so sure of when I was in high school, everyone around me treated me like I was a disappointment for not conforming to their societal standards. The only person who believed I was capable of doing what I had told him I would do in life was my father. I’ve always had this dream and I’ve always strived for it. It might sound extreme to some but I had told myself, “No excuses, go for it, or you might as well turn over and die, what a waste of life”. And to think after all my resilience, the hard work is “working”. (laughter) All jokes aside, the younger version of me is so proud; the people, places and spaces I have been in, all because of my pursuing music as my passion. The energy it has brought to my life is unmatched. I am very grateful for the work I have put in so far, as well as all my blessings.
In any adverse situation I’ve experienced, I’ve reminded myself to “remember your why” and continue doing what I felt called to do regardless of the obstacle.
Simms: Can we look for new music and music moves from you soon? If so, what's on your horizon?
West: Yes! A few new single releases, “Patience” being the next up, the “The City Limit’s Achieve” project, and a remake of my debut album Life Lessons. All new music, new producers, a few of the same features and everything is amped up! My team and I are all looking forward to sharing these projects with the world. What else is coming is an all-female lead Neo-Soul Alt-Funk Pop band called Soulective which is highly anticipated by our peers. You’ve probably noticed me use the terms “we” a lot in these questions, and that create majority goes to Justina Clear, who is a long-time staff member at Samuri Sound Studios and my business partner in most of my endeavors, and Co-writer as well as the other lead singer in Soulective and the other SmoovTime Queen in our touring group SmoovTime.
Simms: In a nutshell, who is Samuri West?
West: “Samuri West” is the strongest, empowered, resilient side of me, if you will. She’s the demon slayer, she is my alter ego; the version of myself that the child in me KNOWS is an entire superhero. A samurai” was once a lone warrior for the righteous kingdom, protector of ways and requests of the king. The history and testimony of the samurai is that of righteousness, honor, and valor, even when standing alone.
As you previously asked about my name and where it came from, my father is the one who named me Sarah. It's ironically aligned yet beautiful because my father was the only one who believed in me, truly. He was the sole person to build me up and see who I was meant to be from birth. He chose my name, whereas my mom wanted it to be Faith or Hope. To Imagine, if my father was to have let that name go, I might’ve never stepped into my greatest shoes as the righteous warrior I AM. As the effects of time happened to me in life, as I inhabited the name “Samuri” from “Sarah Marie”. I felt the heavy purpose accompanied with the armor of my name and what it meant to carry forth in my life as a samurai. Some call it a phoenix rising from the ashes, I just call myself Samuri West.
