Richardine Bartee
Name: Sammus
Representing: Ithaca, New York
Genre: Hip-Hop, Art Rap
For fans of: Nitty Scott, MC, Noname
Single from: N/A
Produced by: N/A
Song of the Day: September 28, 2016
Label(s): Don Giovanni Records / NuBlack Music Group
Sammus (real name Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo of Congolese and Ivorian descent) is an exciting recording artist and record producer from Ithaca, New York. ‘1080p’ is the first record I listened to by the Cornell University graduate. She has a PhD, a voice that reminds me of Nitty Scott’s and a vocabulary that any journalist can admire and appreciate. Personally, I love that she plainly yet subtly talks about mental health, something I think that is important. I’m looking forward to seeing her live in New York City, soon. Also, she has a song with one of my favourite people in this world Homeboy Sandman. Stream ‘Weird’ by Sammus and the Stones Throw recording artist exclusively on NPR.
Read more about Sammus
Sammus (Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo) is an Ithaca, NY based rap artist, producer, and PhD student in the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University. Known as much for her rousing stage presence as she is for her prowess as a beatmaker and lyricist, Sammus has spent the past several years cultivating a strong following of activists, Hip-Hop heads, punks, and self-proclaimed nerds and geeks, among others. As noted by the Los Angeles Times, Sammus “has a gift for getting a message across.” Now ready to make her Don Giovanni debut (while remaining tied to NuBlack Music Group), she is poised to cement herself as an artist who consistently thinks outside boxes and dances across lines (and does other neat things with geometrical figures).
In addition to managing a full-time music career, Enongo has spent the past eight years as a public-school and college level educator. After graduating from Cornell University in 2008 with a double BA in Sociology and Science & Technology Studies, she was accepted into the national teaching program Teach for America and placed in Houston Texas, where she taught elementary math and science between 2008 to 2010. In the fall semester of 2011 she returned to Cornell as a PhD candidate to pursue an interest a wide array of sound studies topics, including sound and gaming as well as the identity politics of community studios. As an academic in training and very-vocal feminist, Enongo has produced articles for publications such as Bitch, For Harriet, Sounding Out!, and The Mary Sue related to issues of race, Hip-Hop, gaming, and feminism.
