Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo (born March 20, 1986), known as Sammus, often stylized as SΔMMUS, is an American underground rapper, former teacher, and record producer.

Early life

Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo was born in Rhinebeck, NY to an Ivorian mother and

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

father. (

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June ...

, former Prime Minister of Congo, was her great uncle.) Her parents, both professors, moved her family to

Ithaca, NY Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named af ...

at an early age, her mother teaching at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

and her father at

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes re ...

. She began producing music in highschool under the name DJ Eno, first using the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

program '' MTV Music Generator'', and the

digital audio workstation A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integra ...

Reason Reason is the capacity of Consciousness, consciously applying logic by Logical consequence, drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activ ...

to create beats. When she was trying to pick a new name for herself, a friend recommended the name Samus, after the main character of the '' Metroid'' series of games, since both are women in male dominated genres.

Education

Sammus received a BA degree from

in 2008, double majoring in

Science and technology studies Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. History Like most interdisciplinary fie ...

and

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

. She then worked full-time as teacher, in Houston, Texas for Teach for America. Sammus then returned to Cornell in Fall 2011 to pursue an MA degree and doctorate in Science and Technology Studies, which she obtained in 2015 and 2019, respectively. In 2019, Sammus was awarded a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship in Music at the Cogut Institute for the Humanities at Brown University, focusing on the aesthetics and techniques of music of the African diaspora. Currently, she serves as Mellon Gateway Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor in the Brown University Department of Music.

Music

Sammus' influences started with her older brother Disashi (currently a member of

Gym Class Heroes Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including ...

), who exposed her both to video games and

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

bands like

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backin ...

and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

. In addition, Sammus has stated that she has been heavily influenced by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, particularly his debut album ''

The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received p ...

'': Sammus released her debut EP ''Fly Nerd'' in 2010. She followed up with the album ''M'Other Brain'' in 2012. After

Mega Ran Raheem Jarbo (born September 3, 1977), also known by his stage names Mega Ran and Random, is an American underground nerdcore rapper, chiptune DJ, and record producer. In February 2015, he changed his stage name to Mega Ran, removing Random fro ...

was exposed to Sammus' music, the two began collaborating. In 2013, within a few hours of releasing her second album, ''Prime'', it became the bestselling rap album on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

. In December 2013, Sammus launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...

campaign for her fourth album, a concept album based on ''Metroid''. This album, ''Another M'' earned her fans of the

nerdcore Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term (to describe this genre) in the 2 ...

subgenre. In various interviews and social media, Sammus has clarified that she doesn't identify herself as a nerdcore rapper, and instead prefers the term "Afrofuturism" to refer to her video-game centered music because it requires an engagement with her Blackness.

Performances

Sammus has toured the U.S. with

on the ''Rappers with Arm Cannons'' tour in 2015. She has performed at the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Music Festival since 2015, the

Penny Arcade Expo PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX was ...

(PAX East) in 2015, Geek Girl Con in 2014 and 2015 with plans to return in 2016. She has also performed at the east coast's music and gaming festival,

MAGfest MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival, originally the Mid-Atlantic Gaming Festival) is an annual festival held in the Washington metropolitan area that celebrates video games and video game music, as well as their surrounding Video game music cultu ...

, in 2015 and 2016. In June 2017 she performed at McCarren park in Greenpoint Brooklyn as part of the Northside Festival.

Discography

* 2010 - ''Fly Nerd'' (EP, self-released) * 2012 - ''M'Other Brain'' (NuBlack Music Group) * 2012 - ''Reset: Instrumentals'' (self-released) * 2013 - ''Prime'' (NuBlack Music Group) * 2013 - '' Nerdcore Instrumentals: Castlevania Edition'' (with DJ Cutman) * 2013 - ''Castlevania: The Nocturnal Cantata'' ( Joypad Records) * 2014 - ''Another M'' (NuBlack Music Group) * 2014 - ''Nerdcore Instrumentals 2'' (with DJ Cutman) * 2016 - ''InFusion'' (EP, NuBlack Music Group) * 2016 - ''Pieces in Space'' (

Don Giovanni Records Don Giovanni Records is an independent record label originally specializing in punk rock from the New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene but eventually working with a variety of artists from different genres. History Don Giovanni Records was fo ...

)

References

External links

Official Website

Sammus at Don Giovanni Records

Sammus on Genius
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sammus 1986 births Living people American hip hop musicians Cornell University alumni American women rappers African-American women rappers Nerdcore artists Musicians from Ithaca, New York Rappers from New York (state) Teach For America alumni 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American women musicians Educators from New York City 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Don Giovanni Records artists Ithaca High School (Ithaca, New York) alumni 21st-century women rappers