Iniabasi Samuel Henshaw, professionally known as Samm Henshaw (born 22 February 1994), is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. Henshaw garnered mainstream radio support from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

and was chosen by

James Bay James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island. Numerous waterways of the ...

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' (2012) during one of his high school suspension ...

, and Allen Stone for tour support. His 2019 single ''The World Is Mine'' was used as the theme music for Amazon Studios' TV adaptation of '' Alex Rider'', based on the popular teen book series by

Anthony Horowitz Anthony John Horowitz (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include the '' Alex Rider'' series featuring a 14-year-old British boy who spi ...

. Samm's debut album, ''Untidy Soul'', was released on January 28, 2022.

Early life

Henshaw was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and was raised by

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

parents in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. Henshaw spent his secondary years at Cleeve Park School, then pursued a popular music performance degree at Southampton Solent.

Career

2014–2015: Debut EP ''The Sound Experiment''

Henshaw's debut EP, The Sound Experiment, was released in 2015 and featured production and songwriting input from

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including " World ...

and Fred Cox, amongst others.

2016: ''The Sound Experiment 2''

Henshaw's second EP, The Sound Experiment 2, was released in the summer of 2016. Henshaw released music videos for "Our Love" and "Night Calls", promotional singles from ''The Sound Experiment 2''.

2022: ''Untidy Soul''

After releasing the singles ''Still Broke'' (featuring Keyon Harrold), ''Grow'', and ''Chicken Wings,'' Henshaw released his debut album ''Untidy Soul.'' Critics stated the album was based on "rootsy, old-school soul, 90s hip-hop, bluesy jazz and gospel," with Henshaw calling it "a reflection of his own 'scatterbrain", each song telling a different story.

2024: ''for someone, somewhere, who isn't us''.

After his ''Untidy Soul'' tour in 2022 and 2023, Henshaw released a mini-album on August 2, 2024 entitled ''for someone, somewhere, who isn't us'', focusing on themes of on burnout and creative difficulties he had in the wake of ''Untidy Soul''. An accompanying short film and documentary was released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on September 27th, 2024.

Artistry

Alongside gospel artists Helen Baylor,

Fred Hammond Frederick William Hammond (born December 27, 1960) is an American gospel singer, bass guitar player, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most popular figures in contemporary gospel music. He is known for using a variety of differ ...

, Israel Houghton, and Alvin Slaughter, Henshaw is said to have spent his childhood devouring mainstream pop music, from

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

to Usher and N*Sync. More recently, Henshaw identifies his biggest vocal inspirations as D’Angelo,

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer-songwriter from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-u ...

, and

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

, and finds songwriting inspiration in

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

award winner

Frank Ocean Frank Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He has been credited by several music journalism, music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a B ...

Tours

;Supporting *

– Chaos and the Calm Tour (2015) *

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' in 2010 and eventually releasing her debu ...

– Where I Belong Tour (2016) *

– Magnificent Coloring World Tour (2016) * Allen Stone – Building Balance Tour (2020)

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

*2018: "How Does It Feel?" *2018: "Broke" *2018: "Doubt" (feat.

Wretch 32 Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The ...

) *2019: "Church" (feat.

EarthGang EarthGang (stylized EARTHGANG) is an American hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Olu (aka Johnny Venus; born Olu Onyemachi Dakarai Fann) and WowGr8 (aka Doctur Dot; born Eian Parker). They are co-founders of the musical collective S ...

) *2019: "The World Is Mine" *2019: "Only One to Blame" *2020: "Change for Me" (with Brasstracks) *2020: "All Good" *2021: "Still Broke" (feat. Keyon Harrold) *2021: "Grow" *2021: "Chicken Wings" *2022: "Pull Up" (Smoko Ono featuring Samm Henshaw) *2023: "Barcelona" ( Kota the Friend featuring Samm Henshaw) *2023: "Jumoké "

Guest appearances

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henshaw, Samm 1994 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century British male singers Alumni of Southampton Solent University Black British male rappers British male rappers British contemporary R&B singers English people of Nigerian descent Singers from London Columbia Records artists