Sam Jonathan Johnson is a singer, songwriter, composer, producer and musician originally from Des Moines, IA. His songs have been sampled by recording artists including Jadakiss, Big Sean, DJ Jazzy Jeff and many others.

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Sam began playing the organ at age 14, at E. 17th St. C.O.G.I.C. in Des Moines, IA where his mother was a choir director and pianist. Within a few months, Sam had become the youngest "State Minister of Music" in C.O.G.I.C. history.

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Sam recorded his solo album My Music for Columbia Records which was released in 1978.  John Hammond, who became one of the most influential figures in 20th-century popular music, was the Executive Producer for the album. John sparked or furthered the careers of many great legends from Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, the Count Basie Orchestra, Aretha Franklin, and George Benson, to Bob Dylan. Sam and Bruce Springsteen ("The Boss") were among the last artists discovered and signed by John Hammond before his retirement.

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Sam's album My Music was released in Europe where it made some noise, but never made it to the United States. Having mixed emotions about the outcome of his debut, while dealing with his mother's illness, Sam took a long sabbatical as a recording artist. He worked with local jazz singers in the New York area and began to write poetry in Greenwich Village. Later, he worked in musical theatre on Broadway then ultimately became director of the music department for Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee's Open Cage Theatre in Mount Vernon, NY under administrator and founder, Tina Sattin.

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After a few years of creative frustration, Sam relocated to Los Angeles, CA where his famous cousins Robert, Ronnie and Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band, were making their mark. New to Hollywood, he played at a local church, Sweet Home MBC, on Sundays and taught music at Communion Christian Academy during the week. Sam began listening to and critiquing today's music with his younger children, and the Hip-Hop music explosion has inspired him to write and be creative again. He says, "I often hear my style and sound being used in samples on radio and television... and I am honored that the Hip-Hop culture has embraced "My Music!"

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Sam's music has been sampled more than 19 times by artists such as Jadakiss, who sampled the single "My Music" for his song "We Gonna Make It" featuring Styles P from the album Kiss tha Game Goodbye. The song was in turn sampled by Big Sean for his single "Friday Night Cypher" (featuring Tee Grizzley, Kash Doll, Cash Kidd, Payroll, 42 Dugg, Boldy James, Drego, Sada Baby, Royce da 5'9" and Eminem).

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Sam's song "Sweet Love" was sampled by DJ Jazzy Jeff in 2014 for the single "Play Dat!" featuring Dayne Jordan. Sam's version of "What The World Needs Now Is Love" was sampled by Eric Lau for his song "What The World Should Be" in 2010.

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My Music = My Story the sophomore project of Sam Jonathan Johnson, was released in 2019, 40 years after My Music. The two projects are "bridged" using the first song's bridge.

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Urban Reflexions was released in 2020 and has 11 tracks, including the song "San Pedro Alley" featuring recording artist Crystal Johnson with rapper TheOwnlyHope (AKA Mic Little) and vocalist Ezidinma.

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In 2021, Sam released Time Constraints. The EP contains five songs including "What If" featuring Ezidinma. 

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**Biographical information (edited) and photographs were obtained from the artist's website, used with permission**

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