FACES. | SAM E HUES
Sam E Hues | Artist, Musician, Designer.
eightonethree: Who is Sam Hues in this season of your life, not just as an artist, but as a person?
Sam Hues: That’s a loaded question. I feel like I’m in this weird parallel space where everything seems to be lining up, and I thank God for that. It also feels like I’m overworking, while at the same time chasing peace. It’s a weird balance every day. You have to know when to turn it on and when to turn it off. Lately, everything’s been lining up in a crazy way, and if I wanted to, I could just keep going nonstop. But I have to stop and ask myself, do I want that bag right now, or do I want to protect my peace a little more? That’s the real tension. Sometimes financially it makes sense, but internally it can take a lot out of you.
eightonethree: What part of Tampa influenced you the most growing up, and how does the city show up in the way you create?
Sam Hues: I bounced around a lot, so I didn’t really grow up in just one part of the city. It was kind of a mix. My early years, then spending weekends with my nana, and then my time at Sligh. It’s really a three-part situation for me. All of that still shows up in how I create. Tampa’s in the way I speak, the way I move, the things I gravitate toward. It’s all still there.
eightonethree: Tampa has its own creative energy. How has being from here shaped the way you approach the music industry? What do you think the city gets right, and what still needs to evolve?
Sam Hues: I think we’re still young. A lot of the resources aren’t here yet, so people feel like they have to leave. That’s probably the biggest thing. I also think Tampa creates these multi-hyphenate creatives. People here usually have to do everything themselves. You can’t always rely on some bigger machine or team already being in place, so you learn how to build and move on your own. That creates a certain kind of artist.
eightonethree: Looking back, what’s a lesson about the music business that changed your perspective on how things really operate, especially for someone just starting out?
Sam Hues: Realizing there are a lot of people who are creatively predatory.
That changed a lot for me. You start to understand not everybody is coming with good intentions, even if they’re drawn to what you make. A lot of people see value and immediately think about how to extract from it.
eightonethree: You’ve worked with major names locally, including Tom G on your recent project Cuban Links. How did that relationship come about, and how many moving pieces actually go into executing a rollout like that?
Sam Hues: Tom and I got close through one of his people years ago. It was super organic before it was ever in business. We spent a lot of time together, way before music came back into the picture.
As far as the rollout, it feels like a lot of moving pieces, but I don’t really think it is. I do most of it myself. For me, the biggest thing is just making sure there’s always somebody around to capture something in the moment, whether that’s photos or video, so you can store it and use it when the release comes around. Honestly, the hardest part of that rollout was getting the locations for the video. I wasn’t willing to bend on what I wanted the vision to be. One of those locations took us six months to get. I had to call in favors, politic, all of that. But I just wasn’t going to do it halfway. Outside of that, it was smooth. My girlfriend helped a lot because she’s super organized and helped me with parts of the rollout. My engineer is involved in everything too. I think sometimes people make it seem more complicated than it is because they just throw things on the internet and keep it moving. I’m more intentional than that.
eightonethree: Outside of being an artist, you’re wearing multiple hats. What creative or entrepreneurial lanes are you building that people might not fully see yet, and why is that important to you?
Sam Hues: I think for me, the medium isn’t really the individual discipline. It’s not just music or painting or one thing. The real medium is ideas. I’m trying to build a world around my taste, around how I want to see things done. So with that in mind, I’m working in real estate and developing townhomes. I’m trying to open a restaurant. I’m also trying to open a coffee shop this year. For me, it’s all connected.
eightonethree: When someone’s coming to Tampa for the first time and you’re showing them the city, where are you taking them and why? Food spots, neighborhoods, creative spaces, whatever really represents Tampa to you.
Sam Hues: I’m a food person, so food is probably where I’m starting.
First stop, La Teresita. You’ve got to start simple and get the complexity later. La Teresita tastes like home to me. The Cuban sandwiches, the way they execute it, that place just means something.
Then I’m thinking about places that are more memory-based for me too. There’s this little crab shack spot that means a lot to me. Big Ray’s Fish Camp in South Tampa is another one. Their grouper sandwich still hits the way it used to when I was a kid. A lot of grouper sandwiches now are trash. The blackened one there is crazy.
Then if we’re talking more polished or business-dinner energy, Rocca is fantastic. That’s number one for me in that lane. The vibe is great, the music is right, the people behind it are really tapped in. It feels like Tampa, but elevated.
I also like spots like Caffé Paradiso. That’s a sleeper. Great food, real personality, authentic energy. There’s also a taco spot on Henderson that has maybe the best brisket taco in town. Simple, but crazy. Tampa is layered like that to me. It’s not just one kind of place.
eightonethree: When you think about your evolution as an artist, what’s something you used to prioritize that doesn’t matter to you as much now?
Sam Hues: Perfection. It might not seem that way from the outside, because I still care a lot, but I don’t obsess over it the same way anymore. I used to be the type to re-track a verse a hundred times because I didn’t like one line. I didn’t like punching in either. Now I’m more okay with things feeling human. That human element is what makes things great to me now.
eightonethree: What does professionalism mean to you in an industry where image and perception move fast? How intentional are you about how you show up?
Sam Hues: Very intentional. I mean, I was late today, which is crazy for me. Honestly, I think one of the most professional things you can do is just be authentic. A lot of people come into spaces trying to switch modes or become somebody else. I don’t think that’s necessary. Be yourself, treat people with respect, be kind, and do what you say you’re going to do. At this point in my life, that’s really what it comes down to.
eightonethree: Collaboration is big in Tampa’s scene right now. What makes a creative partnership feel authentic?
Sam Hues: There has to be a real connection before the art. The people I like working with are either people I’m actually friends with, or people I’m genuinely a fan of. You also have to be self-aware enough to know when things don’t make sense. There are artists I love where I don’t really see the overlap. Then there are collaborations people wouldn’t expect that work beautifully. I’ve got a record coming with Nino Breeze that people probably won’t expect, but that’s somebody I’m really close with. It’s a super dope record. I’m really excited about it.
eightonethree: And the Freddie Gibbs record too, if you can talk about it.
Sam Hues: Yeah, absolutely. It drops in like four weeks or something like that. Freddie is one of my favorite rappers of all time. Alfredo is one of my favorite bodies of work ever. So that one means a lot to me. I opened up for him years ago, and after the set he asked to meet me. I went over there, and he just told me I was dope. That was it. Then when he came back around, somebody on my team reached out through mutual friends without even telling me. I didn’t think anything was really going to happen. Then literally the day before he landed, it became real. He spent the whole day with us. We were in the studio all day and made the song from scratch. Then later we shot the video. He wrote the verse right there, sat for maybe an hour, and then just knocked it out. One take. Then he was like, “I can do it a little better,” and did it again. He’s nasty. It’s one of my favorite Freddie verses ever as a fan. The producer on that record is someone I’m really close with too. He’s done a lot of my music with me. He did Cuban Links, the Freddie record, the Nino record. He’s young, crazy talented, and somebody I make a lot of music with.
eightonethree: There’s always a moment behind the scenes that people never see. What’s a recent challenge you navigated?
Sam Hues: Learning how to deal with predatory clients and relationships without letting them run me into the ground. There was a situation recently where we knew we could do some really cool work, but I also understood how they moved and how they’d treated people in the past. So the challenge was figuring out how to leverage the opportunity without letting it consume me. A lot of people in those situations get burned up because they get pulled in too deep. I was smart enough not to let that happen. I got what I needed from it, learned from it, opened some doors, did some cool work, and got out before it went left. That’s part of maturity too. Protecting your peace and understanding when it’s time to leave.
eightonethree: Fast forward 10 years. When someone says the name Sam Hues, in Tampa and beyond, what do you want that name to represent?
Sam Hues: That’s probably the hardest question, because as much as I’d like to control that, I don’t think you really can. What you want it to mean might not be what it ends up meaning to people. But if I had to say it, I’d want it to represent helping people. That’s a big part of who I am. I don’t always talk about it, but if somebody calls me, I’m going to do what I can. I love connecting people. I love putting people in position. I take every chance I get to show love, share light, and help somebody else. I wish I had more people doing that for me when I was younger. I fumbled a lot, but that’s how you learn. Beyond that, I’d want it to represent somebody who was multi-creative and did things their own way. I’m at a point now where I’m not interested in making things outside of the way I want to make them. I’m just going to be myself. It’s been working so far. At this point in life, you’ve got to show up the way you want to show up. Don’t stop.
