The mystery of Samuel Carter | Discover
Hailing from Surrey, BC, Samuel Carter is a multi-hyphenate artist and creative, ready to put his name out there.
DISCOVER: ARTIST
Samuel Carter
Genre: R&B/Hip-Hop, Rock
Reppin’: Surrey, BC
Samuel Carter is the type of artist you stumble across—completely out of your usual music rotation—yet you can’t stop listening once you hear it. Think The Sundays’ 1997 single Life Goes On, which sporadically populated the feeds of our TikTok’s through fan edits, and our playlists.
Samuel Carter is a multi-hyphenate artist based in Surrey, BC, with 611 monthly listeners on Spotify. Despite his less-than five songs published on Spotify, including two singles and a three-track EP, it’s clear that he’s taking the leap to get his name out there. How, you ask? His unique creative direction.
Carter maintains a mysterious persona online, leaning into the dark/cryptic aesthetic throughout his artist branding and videos he posts on Instagram—whether it’s through the solid-black music artwork, or nighttime visuals that record nothing but himself in a single-dimmed light source. Clearly, it works, with his promotive content gaining traction of over 350k total views. The point is that it’s intentional, and proof that intention with your artistry is what people really pay attention to.
Across his socials, he has what looks like a side-by-side, dual cross motif, serving as his primary symbol of branding. (Before you ask, I have no clue what it means, nor does ChatGPT, so drop in the comments below if you’ve got an idea — or tag Samuel Carter.)
I initially discovered Carter on my personalized recommended music list around May. His debut single shuffled its way to my Spotify, and I was instantly hooked by the drum-and-bass influence on Pink Pills. More than that, I was surprised at how polished and cohesive the production was to his brand—and it’s no surprise that Carter is in tune with every aspect of the creative process; he produces, performs, and mixes the music he puts out.
When I discovered his music, he only had four singles to his belt: Pink Pills, Fantasize, Morning, and Kiss It Better. Fantasize (which has been since removed from streaming services) followed the same energy as Pink Pills, serving as the perfect follow-up for what seemed like Carter was trying to build sonically. It’s upbeat and gritty. Then all of a sudden, Carter hits my ears with Morning. This song is heavy, edgy, and completely unique to his two previous releases. It reminds me of the darker elements The Weeknd portrayed in his earlier projects, like Kiss Land.
What stood out to me listening to this song again is the Guitar Hero sync-rock solo shredding before the fourth chorus. If Morning was a shocker to you, Kiss It Better was a curveball that served a nice interlude from Morning. Carter covers Rihanna’s iconic song off her critically acclaimed album, ANTI, in a sped-up version that experiments with a darker melody catered to Carter’s sound.
His newest release, True Romance, is a three-tracked EP that serves to solidify that music style coming to be synonymous with the name “Samuel Carter”. With the standalone single, Forever & Always, it’s no question that he’s one of the new-gen artists Vancouver should begin to show love to.
Listen to Samuel Carter on our Discover playlist.