Utilizing the craft as a means of expressing his emotions, coping with loss, and overcoming depression through music, Sam Turpin, an alternative hip-hop artist-producer born in 1995 to anti-apartheid activist and photographer, Gisèle Wulfsohn, grew up in 21st Century post-apartheid with a general interest in the hip-hop culture and production. He started taking his craft seriously after the passing of his mother in 2011 who sadly lost her life to cancer.
Sam then began the journey of releasing his self-made music videos and EPs, online. In 2017, he released his first full-length mixtape, “4 am in Jozi”, followed by 2 singles in 2019, “Summer Evening” and “Sahara Flow” where he collaborated with distinguished director Katya Abedian-Rawháni for a short film of her song which premiered on London’s Nata. Before his music hiatus from 2020 to 2022, he released “Cloud City” featuring Lenny-Dee from Bye Beneco. al Media.
Watch Sahara Flow Here:
After a short hiatus to do band work, playing the bass guitar as a member of The Charles Gene Suite He reunites with producer Illa N with the release of his contemplative lament “Broken Mirror”. With a cautious chorus that narrates the lasting effects of karma whether you want to believe it or not, Sam delves into a muddy cadence, dungy tonality and a dual world-view that is equally introspective and critical of his surroundings.
Cruising through a dexterous drum pattern, singing harp instrument and a broody baseline, Sam echoes the remnants of lingering pain at the loss of his mother, the depression he has enjoyed and how music has been his saving grace that raised him in his room. When the decision to pursue music professionally and the time came to take the relationship with music to a professional realm, he was met with obstacles that may have inspired his hook
“Ever wonder why you peacefully sleep? (Ah ha)
No wonder how your enemies creep (Ah huh)
Don’t do them dirt just aside by the way
What goes around comes around, ah huh true say”
The second verse takes us outside the room into the heart of the tumultuous come up, the same come that ridicules, demeans, emasculates and drives the love of being a creative out of you to a point where if you let it, you become a shadow of your former self by the time you make it. With an onslaught of enemies keeping you paranoid and awake at night, regrets and unimaginable drastic measures you have to take to maintain your position, Sam narrates how dark the rabbit-hole of mainstream glitz and glam can get, and how the things you have done and continue to do to keep your position can keep you hooked on substances.
Moral dilemmas are a common thin line to walk in the abrasive, cut-throat music industry and Sam does his utmost best to remind you to be on the right side of Karma because the shortcuts to success are the same reason why the success is short-lived and is quick to eat you up
Broken Mirror arrives with the announcement of Sam’s next full-length project, an upcoming mixtape titled “Syncope”; its release date is yet to be announced.
Watch the Live Performance for Broken Mirror Here
Connect with Sam Turpin
Twitter: @sam_turpin
Instagram: @iamsamturpin