Samuel Shabazz Has the Future of Detroit Artistry in His Hands

His new album, PLANEBOY, is out now.

Image Courtesy of Wavy Gang and Samuel Shabazz

It didn’t take long for a young Samuel Shabazz to discover his creative ingenuity. From a young age, the Detroit musician was surrounded by music. His father is Uncle Sam, a Boyz II Men signee and iconic R&B singer. Growing up on the West Side in a multi-genre home, Shabazz’s passion flourished. He recently released PLANEBOY, an album made throughout different cities in the country that consistently pays homage to his hometown. Shabazz goes beyond the music — he’s tapped into fashion to give his Detroit loved ones to be dedicated to alongside music. He created DopAR Clothing, a brand for anyone of all ages and genders to “just be fly and rise above everything.”

PLANEBOY takes inspiration from Playboy’s famous Big Bunny plane. This continues Shabazz’s aviation motif, which has been referenced in previous work and throughout DopAR Clothing. The album includes Detroit and New York City artists like Moxie Knox, Talibando, Dre Butterz, and his recent co-signer, Babyface Ray. Since signing with Ray’s Wavy Gang in partnership with EMPIRE, he’s taken the country by storm. Shabazz spoke with 1202 MAGAZINE on PLANEBOY, his musical and fashion upbringing, and how he plans to take his music career to the next level.

Walk me through how you created PLANEBOY and how you chose its features.

The creative process for PLANEBOY involved a lot of traveling. We moved from San Francisco, Detroit, and Atlanta to California to create music. I chose the features based on organics: songs we enjoyed making. I sifted through everything to make undeniable music. I made sure there was something for everybody. I wasn’t putting anything together just for the sake of people’s names.

What’s the correlation of aviation throughout your music and clothing brand?

DopAR Clothing started some years back. I used the plane on the brand because it came from my record label at the time, Aura Recordings. The logo was a plane. It stemmed from just being fly and rising above everything. It started to go in a different direction and evolved over the years. With PLANEBOY, my mission statement was, ‘Some go left, some go right, but we go up.’ I use that a lot, so it’s a lot of playing on that.

How did the DopAR Clothing vision come to life, and how did you combine it with your music?

The origin of the clothing brand came from my family members. We’re in Detroit; I wanted to make sure that they have nice clothes growing up. I learned a lot from them when it came to fashion and styling clothes. I wanted to make sure we had something outside of music that my people could focus on, which was something that we were all into. The kids can also have something tangible later in their lives. I was trying to keep the music and clothing brand separate for as long as possible. I wasn’t trying to make it merch, but over time, things evolved in their own way.

You recently signed with Wavy Gang. How has your life and career changed since then, and how did you form that relationship with Babyface Ray?

My career has changed, and it’s progressing. I can’t say it’s changed too much because I’ve always been a part of Wavy Gang. I’ve been waiting for so many years, and now we made it official for the world to know and see it from that perspective. My life has changed for the better. I’m never complaining.

What influenced you to get into music?

I started making music in 1997 or 1998. My pops went on tour. He is an artist who was signed to Boyz II Men. He was their first artist. He had a song called ‘I Don’t Ever Want To See You Again.’ He went on tour with Boyz II Men and Destiny’s Child. He would let me introduce him as Uncle Sam. I was about six, saying to the crowd, “When I say ‘Uncle,’ you say ‘Sam.’ Hearing my name to 20,000 Boyz II Men fans in their prime. What could I do to get that? That’s what I wanted to do with my life. That inspired me to figure out how to get into music, but it took me a couple of years to write my first verse at about eight years old. I didn’t go into the studio until a couple of years after that. I’ve been recording and making music for over 20 years now. There are so many different moments.

Since you grew up around R&B, is that the music you initially made, or has it always been rap and hip-hop?

I actually refused to sing songs to a melody at first. I couldn’t make a hook when I first started creating music. I couldn’t make a chorus, either. I thought I would never figure it out. My pops would tell me that there are more people in the world who can’t sing than they can. Eventually, I just started making music. To this day, I don’t even look at the stuff I do as singing. I can’t sing; I just know how to work on the computer.

How have you evolved since then?

The process has changed. I’ve changed in so many ways. I went from memorizing and recording my songs in the studio to the point where I began writing music in my head. I started making music on the fly in the studio without writing it. After that, I began to engineer myself. I went to school for recording arts. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Recording Arts so I could get better my sound. I also did it to talk to engineers and tell them what I wanted to hear. I ended up recording my own music, honing in on my sound, and getting better. My song structure and execution evolved, too. I’m getting so much better at creating.

How long does it usually take you to complete a song or project?

I listen to the beat and do whatever it tells me. I don’t necessarily call it freestyling, but it’s well thought-out. If it’s five minutes or three days to finish a song, I always like to think about what I’m doing. I’m speaking about what’s happening in my life. Sometimes, it might rhyme and have some metaphors in it. I like to keep it natural.

How has growing up in Detroit shaped your career path?

It keeps me grounded. It’s home. Detroit helps me remember where I want to go, what we’re trying to accomplish, and how to make things better for my family. It’s inspired me. It’s my muse. I was also inspired by Atlanta because I stayed down there for a few years. I went to high school in Georgia, but I came back to Detroit, and things took off from here.

How did Atlanta musically inspire you?

I went down there intentionally. They were on fire. They held the music torch. I knew I was going to be working amongst that. I was a kid going into it — it created my independence. I had to figure out how to continue doing it beyond myself. I was going to the studio with my father and linking with people who make music in Atlanta. I went to a producer’s house one day, and he made me a beat, but he couldn’t put it on the computer. We couldn’t make the song, so I needed an engineer to come over. Then I figured it out so that we would be able to make music. Detroit prepared me for my time in Georgia.

Are there any artists you want to work with in the near future?

I’ll really work with anybody.

Do you want to branch out and experiment beyond the Detroit sound?

I actually want to show that it’s not an experiment. I’m actually executing the music. I’m doing something that is true to me. Everything is organic. I want to see where worlds collide with other artists, how to find our common ground, and how to transfer it back to one another in music. I look at music as a service. I want to accomplish and run away from the word ‘experiment.’ Let’s take the awkwardness away from doing something new.

What can we expect from you after PLANEBOY?

Elevation and progression. It’s up to the fans from here. I’m going to keep doing my side of it wherever they want me to go further. They will have to help push me there. I want to be as present as I can be. I’m going to continue giving them good work.