Draft:Samantha Samaka


Samantha Samaka, known by her artist name OKAAYSAMi, is a Canadian artist hailing from Lagos, Nigeria.

Music career

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Samaka specializes in R&B and Hip-Hop. She is largely self-sufficient, doing her own music engineering, some music producing, music video editing and directing, and website design. She has been working on an Afrobeat/Dancehall fusion album since 2021 called, "Jaguar In The Jungle," which is still unreleased. OKAAYSAMi has audio engineered 90% of the songs on the album.[1]

Samaka was admitted into Long Island University. Under the university's Excellence Award, she was awarded a scholarship of $40,000 for four years. She was the first black woman from Canada to be accepted into Jay Z's RocNation school.

"Thank you so much for my tuition being paid," Samaka wrote in a Twitter post. "I am so so so honored to be the first Black woman from Toronto, Canada to be accepted into Jay-Z's School of Music," she claimed.[2] Jay-Z and Young Guru gave Samantha Samaka the opportunity of her lifetime, which was the chance to move from Canada to America under a $40,000 scholarship at Jay-Z's prestigious Rocnation School of Music and Entertainment in New York City. Samantha immediately packed her bags, leaving behind her Social Work career and starting from scratch in America to pursue her music dreams.

OKAAYSAMi relocated to the United States in January 2023. She modeled in Lil Tjay's music video and for Teyana Taylor's Rose in Harlem commercial, being right next to iconic figures such as Beyoncé and being co-signed by M. Tina Knowles, and even doing her artist interviews artist podcast series "OKAAYSAMi's Chatterbox" at Diddy's Revolt World event in October. Her talent has garnered recognition from industry heavyweights, including RocNation, Vic Mensa, Dave East, Big D The Weatherman, Harvey Mason Jr., Andrew Gould, Justina Valentine, and more.

OKAAYSAMi has performed in Mexico, Virginia, New York, and Atlanta, and attended the VMA's and the BET Awards.

OKAAYSAMi was previously co-managed by Twin, who serves as Cardi B's, Young MA, Diddy, & other higher-ups bodyguard and a 300Ent a&r. She now manages herself again due to misunderstandings.

OKAAYSAMi has filmed three music videos in the United States, with the first amassing over 30,000 views within a month.

OKAAYSAMi was reportedly bullied while attending the RocNation school during her first semester, and the situation took a turn when two students allegedly stalked Samaka at a Coney Island Train station, located in New York, and claimed Samaka did not deserve her $40,000 scholarship and pushed Samaka onto a train track ledge, endangering her life. This situation caused Samantha to isolate and withdraw from her music career for a while and she also filed lawsuits against the Long Island University establishment due to feeling betrayal that the school did not protect her from her bullies.[3]

Months after this situation, her and Halle Bailey had an alleged physical encounter at the 2024 Essence Women Awards.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Hub, T.C. (2023). "Samantha Samaka, aka, okaaysami...the rising star taking the music industry by Storm". Medium. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  2. ^ Nwanji, N. (2022). "Toronto native earns $40K scholarship to attend Jay-Z's Roc Nation Music, Sports, and entertainment school at Liu, Yahoo! Finance". Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  3. ^ Rodriguez, J (2023). "Evidence & proof of Samantha's Samaka's bullying case against Long Island University students". Medium. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  4. ^ Fisher, C. (2024). "Halle Bailey almost throws hands after mishearing fan's compliment". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 5 October 2024.