Get To Know: Samira Mighty

Since entering the music scene, a year ago, the London born and raised singer has been on a visible upward trajectory, boasting over 6 million streams on ‘I Love Your Smile’ which went ahead to feature in the top 5 UK Club charts. The 27-year-old has explored various career paths, starting off with dance, followed by musical theatre and TV, all of which have had an impact as she now embarks on her journey in the music scene. New Wave Magazine sat down with Samira to delve into her music journey to date, covering her musical influences as well as her recent hit single ‘Envy Me’.

Samira’s formative years saw her surrounded by various types of music with much of her direct music influence coming from home as her ‘dad used to listen to reggae, funk, house, soul’ whilst her mother listened to jazz. Samira looks to the likes of Donna Summer, Rihanna and Freddie Mercury for musical inspiration describing them as ‘iconic’. However, her decision to venture into the pop music scene stems from an interest and excitement about Disney Channel stars such as Demi Lovato and The Jonas Brothers as well as Britney Spears.

With a love for performing, Samira schooled at the Young Dance Academy where she was training to become a professional ballet dancer. Samira’s dedication to her craft is evident as she goes on to share that she ‘was travelling all over London to get to School. Bermondsey to Shepherd’s Bush – it was wild’.

Strict musical theatre training prepared Samira for the challenges that are often commonplace within the music industry – ‘you have to be thick skinned to be in that industry so I’ve kind of got that on my back for the music industry’. Samira explains that whilst she loves being in musicals, ‘there wasn’t much individuality in it’ whilst being a music artist offers the opportunity to ‘be whoever you wanna be on stage’.

Samira speaks fondly of her musical journey thus far since the release of her debut single ‘Like This, Like that’ by saying ‘It’s been great – I absolutely love it! I love going into the studio, meeting new people, making new songs, putting them out’. Above all, her adoration for music itself shines through as she exclaims ‘I love music, I love singing’. Like many artists including Samira, making music is a mode of expression with studio sessions being likened to therapy where ‘you kind of get everything out and then you’ve written a banging song about it’.

Speaking to Samira it was great to hear of the importance of creativity in her day to day as an artist – ‘I’m always creating…I wanted to be my own artist because I have so much creativity in my head’. Her talent goes beyond vocals as she also spends time playing the piano in her home.

Samira’s recent track - ‘Envy Me’ features an upbeat tempo coupled with lyrics that tell the story of being in ‘a relationship with someone and its right person wrong time’. When relationships end, the individuals involved often deal with this differently and Samira portrays this in ‘Envy me’ in that ‘someone might have to go around and get with loads of people to get over someone whereas the other person is quite stable’. Samira explains this further by saying ‘I know you’re with somebody wishing it was me but I’m not doing that cos I’m actually quite grounded and you envy me because of that’.

Samira shares that there is a need for increased recognition for black women within the UK’s pop/dance music scene, explaining that despite their talent, at times black pop vocalists are overlooked and thus can ‘slip under the radar’. The artist references her experience of being met with the assumption that she creates RnB or hip-hop music with her response to this being that she ‘wants to interpret everything’ in her music proving that she is not afraid to venture across various genres. Championing her fellow black female pop artists, Samira hopes for there to be ‘a lot more black pop female artists’ breaking into the industry at large.

The future is bright for the artist as she hints to ‘some amazing songs that are coming out soon’ as well as live shows and track features with a view to hit the charts. Samira’s first EP is also in the works, which listeners can expect later on this year.

Listen to ‘Envy Me’ here.