Yung Sammy Is In The Building and Going Much Further

Yung Sammy knows all too well that when a door closes, a window opens. After losing out on a chance to compete on hip-hop talent hunt MTV Hustle in 2023, he prepped his banger “4×4” with fellow Delhi NCR hip-hop artist Urban Poet.  

The Noida-based Nigerian hip-hop artist wasn’t expecting much. Plus, he had already told his parents—including his father, a church priest in Delhi NCR—that he was going to be on TV for Hustle and didn’t have the heart to break the news that he was cut from the show. “They brought out the rule that it was only for Indian citizens,” he clarifies. But then “4×4” blew up, quickly becoming the kind of party track that can turn a night out in the capital into a scene. And soon enough, Desi Trill—the music movement, platform and label pushing South Asian sounds worldwide—wanted to work with the Hindi, Haryanvi and English rapper from Nigeria. “That [response] kept motivating me. And the rest is history, now we’re here today,” he says.  

Over the last couple of years, Yung Sammy has proved he’s more than just a one-trick pony in desi hip-hop, and not just because of the novelty factor that comes with seeing a Nigerian turn total Delhi launda/chhora when he steps up to the mic. He kicked things off with a fiery remix for Desi Trill after linking up with co-founder Shabz Naqvi in 2023. By 2024, he’d released his own EP In The Building (which took its name from his catchphrase) and freestyled on the global video series On The Radar. Collaborating with everyone from Mumzy Stranger to New Delhi hip-hop artist DRV and Pakistani-American artist Bandzo3rd, there’s plenty on Yung Sammy’s plate this year that might just catapult him into a whole new league.  

Mustering up courage: Earning a sort of distant support from his parents when he first began rapping after listening to Yo Yo Honey Singh’s “Brown Rang,” Sammy never felt comfortable telling his parents he wanted to be a full-time musician. “I used to go perform at shows and I saw my friends were able to openly tell their parents about their achievements. But for me, I was not able to tell my parents,” he recalls. People would tell them at church that they had seen Sammy’s latest video, only to be met with quizzical responses by his parents. There was a stereotype attached to hip-hop that his parents didn’t approve of, but when MTV Hustle came his way, he felt like he could finally prove that rap was his calling.  

When things fell through, Sammy began avoiding his parents at home, holing up at a studio and focusing on music instead. “My dad used to ask me every day, ‘When are you going to Mumbai [to shoot for Hustle]?’ I used to lie and say very soon, but I wasn’t ready to tell them that this is not happening anymore.”  

Strapped into a rollercoaster: Eventually, he had better news to share: that he was working with Desi Trill and even traveling to London to meet with Naqvi and the crew. It even serendipitously aligned with his girlfriend’s plans to move to London. Within two weeks of signing to Desi Trill, Sammy was in London, recording and even appearing on the widely-followed freestyle series Fire In The Booth by YouTuber Charlie Sloth. “Everything was just a rollercoaster for me that time, which was the dream. Everything was just left and right and up and down, you know? So I just thank God for everything.”  

Changing stances: Where Sammy once believed that labels were just chasing numbers when scouting hip-hop artists, he says he’s found the best collaborators in Desi Trill, who also have a global partnership with Universal Music. In the process of being around industry veterans like Naqvi and Roc Nation’s Ty-Ty Smith, Sammy believes his horizons have expanded beyond just Delhi slang, although he does insist he’ll keep things local. “You start thinking out of the box,” he says. To that end, he’s not just thinking as a Hindi rapper, but also tapping into his Nigerian roots, bringing back his Nigerian accent. 

Big stages, bigger goals: After sharing the lineup billing with the likes of 21 Savage at Indian Sneaker Festival in early 2025, Sammy has set his eyes on more collabs to level up this year. That includes everyone from Seedhe Maut to American producer Mustard, who gave us Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Sammy says, “I’m just happy for the journey ahead, bro. I feel God is on our side. I always say that, and I feel the journey ahead is just crazy.”