Gurp City's Emo Artist? BigSammy

Okay, I imagine BigSammy might bristle at the "emo" label; and no, his music isn't mumblecore, or sing-songy auto-tune vocals over beats that sound like they were made with GarageBand stock loops.  Musically, he's got his own producers (mostly Mon$rock and E.C), but it's a sample-based boom-bap style that fits in fine with the Gurp aesthetic.  But lyrically, he's got to be their most sensitive soul.  Instead of libations and aggressive hedonism, he's the only member talking about mental health, relationship regrets and finding your happy place(s).

"Feelin' like I'm walkin' on broken legs;
I ain't left my room in a couple days.
I ain't been outside in like a week.
I just lay in my bed, waitin' to fall asleep.
I get online to make it look like I'm good."

BigSammy is also one of the guys I'm least familiar with.  This album, and his last couple, don't really feature any of the usual gang, nor does he appear much on their projects.  You'll notice, his name's never come up in any of my reviews before.  In fact, Cold Twelvers seems to be the main label behind his recent projects.  But he does shout out Gurp plenty on here, and digging around, he has popped up here and there.  He has a song on a mostly digital 2-disc compilation called Fresh Out Gurp City, which mostly consisted of songs already released on other projects, but also had two or three exclusive, including a BigSammy solo joint.  And he appears frequently on a 2018 compilation called Rap Camp Vol. 1: The Flood, where he does several songs with the likes of Luke Sick, Eddie K and Z-Man.  So he's a legitimate... well, I was tempted to say "junior member," but googling around, I was able to find music of his dating at least as far back as 2011, so I don't want to give the impression that he's a kid or anything.  His most recent album titles refer to high school, but don't get the wrong idea.

"I try to look in the mirror,
All I see is pain.
All I wanna do is die;
I'm out here feelin' lame."

Summer School is his latest album, following 2020's Woodland High.  The production's consistently engrossing with only a couple of recognizable samples.  "Do You Juana" makes heavy use of Rick James' "Mary Jane," but chops it up in a fun and original way.  The only guest here is fellow Cold Twelver LB on "Summertime," their ode to past summer anthems by Nocera and Jazzy Jeff.  But he doesn't need any more help.  The album's pretty strongly focused, so more voices would just be a distraction.  Lyrically, Sammy's got a poetic, stream-of-consciousness style that sometimes feels a little clunky.  For instance, "Whydowedo" is a seemingly straight-forward song about questioning why two people hurt each other in a relationship, but some of the phrasings and digressions lose me:

"We fight the feelin'; I don't even know why we play.
Connection's strong, I know you feel it, think it's cliche.
You can't stay mad, even though we try to stay away.
The path's the true way. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay.
It's a cold world, the same way her heart works.
She sees the pain in my eyes, they're like fireworks.
I try to kill it, so I'm up poppin' hella Percs.
The foundation's strong, you can go and test the framework.
Teamwork makes the dream work. What are you installin'?
All the good habits got me out here ballin'
A lot harder than I would if I was out here solo.
I'm used to bein' Han, Chewey doin' for the promo.
It's a new day, same world, new life.
Dudley death drop, yeah, every time we ignite.
You run off to cop when I dive inside her box;
Swimmin' in her water, good thing I wore my fuckin' Crocs."

I did learn what a Dudley death drop is, but there are still multiple points there where I wanted to raise my hand and ask a question.  Whether you get exactly what he's saying or not, though, it's endlessly listenable.  BigSammy proves a likeable guy you'll want to spend time with across 11 full tracks and a couple "Hood Weather Report" skits.  Summer School is available on CD in a colorful cardboard gatefold sleeve from Cold Twelvers' website.  I don't think this'll be anybody's favorite album of the year, but if you get it, you'll like it.