Taste Test
What is “good taste” anyway? Allow your favorite actor, musician, celebrity, or comedian to let you in on what they’re watching, reading, and consuming.
Samara Cyn, a rising artist from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has had many full-circle moments this year. She met Isaiah Rashad as a fan at a meet and greet, only to end up touring with him. And after she met Lauryn Hill at Coachella last year, she wound up receiving a personal invitation to share the stage with her idol.
Cyn grew up as an Army brat, so she’s familiar with the idea of not feeling rooted and finding comfort in the journey — she used to write raps and freestyles in her car, claiming her four wheels and the open road as her primary domain in her teen years. That motif of roving and searching is a persistent theme in her music and visuals, from the moving-dolly effect she uses in her video for “Rolling Stone” to the title of her critically acclaimed debut EP, The Drive Home. Much of the aural universe she has constructed plays with this theme, from the lyrics to the small sonic choices made in videos — noises of a gas station, radio sounds, discrete yet distinct car sounds — that serve to amplify the journey she takes you on with her lyrics, which she both raps and sings.
Despite receiving early praise for her freestyles and early singles, Cyn won’t rest on her laurels quite yet — the support has her laser-focused on a journey toward mastery, and she is constantly challenging herself to deconstruct and reconstruct herself within her music. “There’s a difference in being a good rapper and being a good song-maker,” she says in between sips of coffee in a Chelsea café, as we discuss her influences and interests. Her next journey is to conquer the latter — she’s planning an EP called Backroads, which will be out June 20 and include her recently released singles “Pop n Olive” and “Bad Brain”; releasing her new track, “Brand New Teeth,” with Smino; and seeing what she can light aflame on the way there.
You’ve had great feedback on your debut EP, The Drive Home. I’m personally partial to “Sinner.” How has it been to see so much effusive praise and attention from fans and legends alike?
I didn’t expect anything, and I think that’s why it went the way that it went. At the beginning of the year, I had nothing going on, you know, I’m saying nothing going on. I had three songs, thinking it’s gonna be a long journey. My thinking that I needed the money, I needed the label, I needed the resources was stopping me from doing what I wanted to do — what ended up blowing me up was three freestyles I did for free. To this day, I feel like the “On the Radar” freestyle is so trash. We were building the plane as we were flying it, so to see things going better than I had even intended …obviously, I wanted people to like what I put out. When you get good feedback, especially from people whose artistry you respect and have been listening to since high school, that feels very encouraging and validating. We shouldn’t survive on validation, but it’s always nice to get it.
How did you go from acclaim over the freestyles to the EP?
I thought I would have more time to put out the EP. I recorded all through 2024. You want to record right when you’re most confident, and you feel it the most when you feel the pressure. I honed in on the final version of The Drive Home — it had been years of different versions where that project was going to be, and I don’t think I had yet learned the lessons that I was trying to communicate in the EP until that year.
The timing of The Drive Home is about a month or two after Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal. You are two emerging, talented women with brief projects that defy genre and explore different parts of your artistry — whether it be rapping, or soul fusion, or more pop sounds — while remaining cohesive. Did you pay attention to any of the positive reception to Doechii’s album as you were finalizing yours?
There was an interview where Missy Elliott talked about how, when she and Timberland were working on a project, they wouldn’t listen to the radio. I love Doechii’s music — she’s a great lyricist and performer — but I couldn’t listen to her project then because I didn’t want to be influenced. I’m still new and growing, and I feel like a lot of artists at the beginning of their career mimic until they learn more about themselves and can grow into a unique combination of you and your influences. It’s so easy to get subconsciously influenced by things, and the internet loves to compare women; I was really intentional about trying to show up as authentically as possible. Seeing Doechii do her big one, though, has been really inspiring because it feels like somebody is paving the way for women with our specific kind of style. I remember watching her show in Paris and being like, Damn, this is dope. She doesn’t have a live band, but her tracks sound like a live band. I’m so proud of her.
You’ve done shows with Isaiah Rashad, Lauryn Hill, and Nas and now have an upcoming tour with Smino. You constantly get praise for your live performances, the energy you bring to them, the way you arrange your songs. Do you enjoy performing live?
[Laughs] I’m Michael Jackson: Short answer, “no” — I don’t like performing live. I think it’s the anticipation that builds up to the show that I don’t like. The buildup is very nerve-racking. When I was doing open mics, I would be in the bathroom, like, throwing up, so I’ve come a long way since then. Once you get onstage, though, you get real. I’ll be damned if I embarrass myself being shy.
Do you have a ritual to take the edge off before you go onstage?
A nap between sound check and the show is necessary. It’s like a rebirth for the day. I’ll put my headphones on before the show and play binaural beats to get in my zone. I try to remember that silence is okay because I feel like when you get nervous, you try to rush through shit because you want the nerves to be over and your heart’s beating fast. If you go up there and you’re just yourself, people are gonna fuck with that because it feels raw and natural. So I’ll be cracking jokes — my project is only 20 minutes, and they book me for 45-minute sets, so I got a full Kevin Hart routine.
On The Drive Home, there is the main theme of the journey of finding yourself as someone who has moved around a lot, but there’s also a recurring motif of fire and “burning things down.” What does that mean to you?
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I love that you just asked me this question — that was intentional. I’m a biracial kid who lived two to three years in tons of different cultures, and you assimilate subconsciously. That created an issue for me once I got to college — what is my thing? I felt like I didn’t have a home where my home was. What I learned is that we build up this construct of what society thinks we should be, but it’s me who’s paying attention to made-up rules. I’m burning down that idea of what I should have been, instead of just being who I am at the moment. Every time I’ve chosen to do it my way, it works out better than it would any other way. Artists that I admire, you can tell that they do that — there’s no rules because it’s fucking music. You have to be strategic about how you roll it out, but you can’t be strategic about how you create — that has to be authentic. It’s a risky business, and I chose a love that is fickle, but that’s the fight. Do it anyway. Do it scared. Do it nervous. Do it without hanging so tight onto the outcome.
What are some debut albums that you felt were amazing statements from artists?
Jordan Ward had an incredible first album (Valley Hopefuls) — I listen to that to this day. Dijon had a great debut LP with Absolutely. Frank Ocean made a statement with Channel Orange — he had no limitations in that. Kendrick Lamar had an incredible first album with Section.80, and, obviously, Lauryn Hill has the most iconic first album of anybody, ever.
Speaking of Lauryn, you, Doechii, Foggieraw, and Mannywellz got an opportunity to perform with her at Miami Jazz Fest. Lauryn is very intentional about where and how she does live performances these days. How did it feel to get that call?
I got a text message from someone who works with her team who we met a while back — he mentioned it, and I’m looking at him, Yeah aight. I didn’t know how serious it was until we got the confirmation and they said, “We played your music, and Lauryn wants you to come out for Jazz Fest and perform as a part of her set.” I was in disbelief — I don’t think it got real until I got out there. Her MTV Unplugged is probably my favorite thing she did. Her talking points in between her sets, how she connected with people, that influences how I try to set up our shows. It’s real, it’s raw. I used to listen over and over and over again in high school, and to not just see her in person but be onstage with her, and her be so receptive and warm to the new age of artists that are coming out — I just respect her so much and feel like the media doesn’t give her enough grace.
What’s your favorite part of her MTV Unplugged album?
When she cries on “I Gotta Find Peace of Mind” — that is the moment. She was going off a feeling; it was so raw — to be in a space where you feel comfortable crying onstage because what you’re saying is moving you so much and you feel it that deeply. Also, in “Interlude 5,” she talks about “letting your belly out” and how once you let your belly out, somebody else will see you and say, “Let me let mine out because you got one too.”
Are there any music videos that reflect what you like in artistry?
A$AP Rocky’s always had amazing videos like “Money Man” and “Taylor Swif,” with all of the fever-dream aspects — the amount of storytelling is really cool to me. I love the abstract, simple aesthetic of Solange’s music videos. The video Tyler, The Creator did for “Sorry Not Sorry” was so amazing, with him taking out all the different versions of him throughout his career — it’s that grainy film style but still so colorful. I like things that are more symbolic and not so surface, like Kendrick with “N95.” I try to incorporate old references to movies and paintings — my video for “Katana” had a lot of different references to Frida Kahlo, for example.
What put you in the space to put out more music, like your newest single and upcoming project, so quickly?
In January, I had this whole plan about how the year was going to play out — I had a whole schedule, week by week. Then the wildfires happened in L.A. and my power got shut off for days. That was the least of our worries, but sitting there in silence, with a dead phone, made me uncomfortable. It was a reality check of how privileged I am, and it made me question my contribution to this life. Is it enough to just make a song about it? How am I going to show up in a way that leaves my space better than how I found it? I don’t know the answer to that, but it did make me reflect on why I was so comfortable being delusional in my everyday — it’s easier to ignore and distract and dissociate than pay attention to the things that are agonizing. What do we look like sacrificing so much to be temporarily comfortable? This music was just my reflection on that. I still question my contribution because I don’t feel like that’s enough.
The songs on this project are a little bit longer and more meditative than your debut. Do you have a favorite long song?
“Green Eyes,” by Erykah Badu, “Ninety,” by Jaden Smith. Tyler, the Creator has a song with Brent Faiyaz on Call Me If You Get Lost, “Sweet/I Thought You Wanted To Dance” — no matter if it’s a two-minute song or a nine-minute song, he’s always taking you on a journey. I love living in the music longer; it forces you to figure out dynamics. That’s the challenge for me in this work — it’s on my music bucket list to make a really great song that’s over five minutes.
What do you want people to take away from you as you start putting out more music?
I don’t care. [Laughs] I want to feel connected to my music, and I do. Once I send it out, hopefully, somebody else feels connected to it and it resonates. Hopefully, that’s what happens. But I do not give a shit. I feel great about it, and I would love for people to love it, but I also don’t care.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
