The term “samsara” originates from a Sanskrit word that signified a grand cycle of life, death, and rebirth, that all living things pass through a karmic cycle of reincarnation.
Santa Maria-based hip-hop artist Samsara MC chose his name years ago, he told the Sun, inspired by the friends and family he has seen pass on over the years. He said that just before the phone interview, he was at a local cemetery, visiting the grave of a friend who passed a couple of years ago.
“You’re born, living your life. All of us have that untimely demise, you know what I mean? And the rebirth, it’s an old style of thought, and it definitely applies to me nowadays,” he said. “Samsara, it’s something that resonates through everybody, to be honest.”
Embracing the truth of life, that it includes death, can be a motivator to an artist, freeing them to explore and cultivate their art with admittedly limited time. Samsara isn’t bogged down by death, but set free by it, he said, because everything cycles through and is “reborn.”
“Nowadays, I’m just making the most of everything, every opportunity I can, and just knowing that once my time does pass, I do feel like my spirit and energy will be reincarnated in some way or another, whether it’s our kids or our family or art, or any sort of extension of ourselves,” he said.
Samsara said that the point of his music is to leave something behind, something that would make it easier for everyone to remember him, and take part in the “rebirth.” He released his debut album in November of 2017, Third Born, and has performed shows across the Central Coast before and since. He’s been rapping and freestyling for more than a decade and has brought his work “to fruition” in the past couple of years, he said.
An upcoming show at Dj’s Saloon in Lompoc on Feb. 17 will feature Samsara and his friend/collaborator Acronym as headliners. There will be others onstage as well, Samsara’s “crew,” he said, who all contribute to the sound.
“It’s gonna be my first time [at Dj’s], but I’m expecting a big crowd,” he said. “I’ve got some support in the Lompoc community and it’s supposed to be packed, from what I heard.”
He’s prepared to perform the album, Samsara said, and freestyle over self-produced and his crews’ beats, including some collabs with Acronym.
Third Born includes heavy beats over choosey samples, vintage R&B deep cuts, a thick bassline, and scratchy record needles permeating the instrumentals, with Samsara’s gravely baritone pumping rhythmic word storms.
“It’s representing straight lyricism, banging beats, and it’s a good representation of this area’s hip-hop, for real,” he said. “I’ve been getting a lot of really good response.”
Songs like the album’s title track, “Third Born,” illustrate the soul of Samsara’s hip hop. It’s lyrical and evocative, but it also plumbs deep, searching for hidden truths. It’s more akin to old-school than anything that’s in the top 10 right now.
And that’s exactly what he’s shooting for:
“Detoxin’ from all that negative, repetitive/Radio trash puts ’em to sleep just like a sedative/I’m spitting it unedited, raw from a rough town/I be above the clouds but coming straight from the underground,” he rhymes in “Third Born,” followed by the chorus: “When I was growing up, I’d be running from the 5-0/Doing what I gotta do, fighting for survival/Things are different now, we’re on stage rocking live shows/Watching my back, but look ahead, that’s how life goes.”
Samsara doesn’t want to make music “just to party to,” but something with a “strong message,” he said. There’s a “deeper meaning” to hip-hop, beyond the drugs, money, and sex. “It’s much more than that,” he explained, adding that his music goes beyond “that fast food shit.”
It’s the same way with life, he said, for those who care to look deeper into it. That’s always been at the heart of hip-hop, he said, from some of the art form’s earliest producers.
“There are MCs that are dropping knowledge and they’re speaking to you in street language, street lingo, but in between that lingo and language there’s those gems of knowledge, and messages that we’re trying to put across,” he said.
Leaving behind an album is a solid way to cement a message, and Samsara’s debut work leaves a strong one. He has another project on the way, he said, and it’s a continuation of the spirit found in the first:
“Having fun with it at the end of the day, but also putting out a good, quality product that people are going to like, and hopefully learn from it, listen closely, and realize the overall message of what we’re trying to get across, which is you know, it’s not about the glamour and glitz, it’s not about that crap you see on TV or hear on the radio, it’s about being true to yourself and representing for you and your people around you and not putting out that negativity,” he said. “Something with flavor; something with some potential soul and some message.”
Managing Editor Joe Payne would like to leave a message. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 15-22, 2018.