Seafood Sam

Seafood Sam

Beyond the influence of his native Long Beach, one of the biggest inspirations on Seafood Sam’s new album Standing On Giant Shoulders is his son. “I want to make sure he can get a good representation of his dad when he looks back on it,” he tells me as we connect to discuss his selections for the Record & Tape Exchange. “It's about being more conscious to what you have to say, because he'll be listening at some point. He might be my biggest fan.” 

What song reminds you of your childhood?

That would be “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. I remember it so well because we would be driving around in my dad’s Cadillac, and when that song would be playing, my dad would try to make us learn Snoop Dogg's part, the fast part of the song when he is like, “It's the capital S, oh yes I'm fresh, N-double O-P, D-O-double G-Y, D-O-double G,” that whole part. Me and all my bros that I grew up with were just little kids taking turns to rap, like “Nope, nope, you messed up! It is my turn. I got to do it.” We got to all know the song like the back of our hand. It's a great memory, just being in the back of my dad’s car and we all just rapping. It's perfect.

What was the first physical record you remember buying?

It was Doggy Bag by Lil’ Bow Wow. It came out the day after my birthday, December 18th, and I went and bought it. I was probably like 12, I don't know exactly, but I remember I got Beware of the Dog as a gift, so I was already locked in as a fan, And as soon as he dropped that, I had it, man. My sister stole the posters out and hung them up, but it's cool. I had the album.
CD - Bow Wow

What song reminds you the most of home?

That would have to be “Summertime in the LBC” by The Dove Shack. It's a lot of great contenders, but they just nailed it. When you hear it, right when it starts, it's just like, boom - that's the city. That’s my hometown, undeniable.

What song reminds you of traveling to a specific place?

Yeah, it is crazy. Gregory Isaacs, Night Nurse, my mom played that album a lot. So really any song from there. A lot of those songs definitely remind me of just being in my mom's car, sitting there, cruising around. Night Nurse was an album that my mom would play all the time, even when we used to have to clean up the house. We used to clean to it, everything. It just mellows you out instantly, so I can see why she did it. With five kids in the house, I see why she played a lot of Gregory Isaacs.

What song do you wish you had written?

Well, with me, it really wouldn't be no rap, you know what I'm saying? Because I'm comfortable in what I do and I only want to have my abilities with the pen. But I love R&B, so it would probably have to be something like that. And honestly, it's funny because it's a rapper that made a singing song, but it'll probably be something like “Prototype” by André 3000. I would want to just be able to get into that creative space, because he just took it there creatively. But of course it could be any of the classics like “Voyage to Atlantis” by the Isley Brothers or “Cruisin’” by Smokey Robinson, one of those greats. Some “Purple Rain,” you know what I'm saying? Of course. I would love to write something great like that. But for sure, “Prototype” is one of those. I kind of got that feeling too with “Redbone” by Childish Gambino. It was just like, “ooh dang, this was crazy.” But “Prototype” for sure takes the cake.

 What is the best song to play at a house party?

It's funny, this one. For me, it's two universal ones that you could play anywhere. It's “Return of the Mack” or “This is How We Do It.” You can play them two anywhere, you could just hear “Return of the Mack” playing in a car going by, and it's going up.

But other than that, based on some of the parties I've been to, and stuff like “G’d Up” by Tha Eastsidaz or “Ain't No Fun” by Snoop. Those come on, and it's a party for sure. And just to throw it in there, anything from Too Short or E-40, you good. Everybody's going to dance. I know I had a lot of answers on that one, but for sure, “Return of the Mack” or “This is How We Do It” are a cheat code. I can spin a globe and just stop anywhere on the map, go there and play one of those songs, and they going to go crazy. It’s just what it is.

You're abducted by aliens and when you wake up on the spaceship, they pass you the aux. What is the song that you're playing to convince them not to destroy Earth?

That's a real good one. And it’s funny, I instantly had the answer: a song by Switch called “There'll Never Be.” There’s just a feeling in that song that I don't care where you're from, when you hear it and feel it, you'll just instantly be like, “OK, I'm cool. I'm going to chill out.” I was trying to really put my mind in this situation, and that song popped in my head and I was just like, “yeah, when this is playing, nobody can deny it.” You got to just be like, “alright, I'll let y'all live. Y'all good, y'all good.” 

But if I wanted to tell them something, like a message in there or something, it would probably be like, I really like this song, “Life as a Fish” by N*E*R*D. That's a really good song, but I don't know, because in that song it's like the fish talking to us about how we're messing up the ocean. So I don't know if I would want to play that because they'll probably save the fish and kill the humans. They'll just get us. So yeah, we'll stick with “There'll Never Be.”