Samy Hawk: 'music saved me'

Samy Hawk arrived in Miami when his singing career in Venezuela was taking flight. His music was already being heard on the radio and he was doing major tours.

However, the political and social situation in that country was greatly reducing their opportunities.

“I thought I had to look for a better option,” Samy said. “By chance of fate I ended up here [en Estados Unidos]”.

Many might think that since he was already known in his Venezuela, things would be easy in his adopted country. But nothing was further from the truth. The singer didn’t know anyone, he didn’t have a team and neither did the network of connections that he had in his own land.

“It was practically like starting from scratch,” he said. “It was quite complicated, I didn’t have anything to eat or anywhere to sleep.”

The first thing he did was attend sessions where amateur musicians gathered. That was where he met the boys who would later be part of his group.

“Music saved me and set me on the right path,” he said. “I connected with the musicians in my band and the rest is history.”

That and having won the first edition of the MTV show, “Becoming a Popstar”—where he was the only Latin participant—allowed him to independently produce his first solo album, “Pródigo.” It is an urban music album that mixes his influences as a hip hop artist with the rhythms that he danced to when he was break dancing in the streets of Caracas.

“My influences are artists like James Brown, Nina Simone, [el bailarín] “Fred Astaire, Michael Jackson,” he said. “He wanted to mix hip hop with that disco funk.”

And also, on this occasion, instead of guitar, he included a Venezuelan cuatro, “because it’s very ‘cool’”

“Pródigo” is a great source of pride for him, he said, because in addition to a new sound, it included personal and commercial themes and things he wanted to say about his family, his career and the years he has lived in the United States—nine—.

“That’s why I decided to do my own project,” Samy said. “To show what can be done.”