Meet Saint Sinbad, a 19 year old kid from Maryland who’s navigating the ups and downs of making it big in the music industry.
After going through a couple stage names, the artist legally known as Saidou Sosseh, decided to go by Saint Sinbad. The name is inspired by his love for the anime Adventures of Sinbad, but has recently taken on a deeper, more personal meaning.
“As I got older and more into music and just thinking about life in general, the name started to have a different meaning for me now then it did back then. Back then I was just trying to come up with a name that could flow off the tongue and all that, but now it represents how my whole life growing up it always felt like I was in the middle of every spectrum.” Saint gave a few examples of scenarios where he felt caught in-between: indulging in mainstream music but also being a fan of “obscure shit,” being part of a group labelled as “the bad kids,” but knowing all his friends are good people, having to present yourself like an adult, despite desperately wanting to stay young.
Like his name, Saint’s music is rooted in personal experiences and seems to straddle an in-between area, rather than one specific genre. Specifically, Saint described his sound as a mix of rap and R&B, with a healthy dose of electro, indie rock, and bedroom pop (“I fucking love Pretty Girl by Clairo.”) When it comes to his lyrics, Saint finds they’re all connected to a specific experience or particular feeling that stuck with him. “Personally, I couldn’t write something truly good, and make people think ‘damn I feel that’ if it’s not something I truly felt myself. I am not a fan of that fraud shit, no sir.”
Saint Sinbad performing in Washington DC. Photo by Ava Solomon.
Saint just finished up his first year at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU, and is grateful for the opportunity to study there. Although his family fully supports his artistic aspirations now, their approval was not immediate. Saint recalled a particular night, back in the seventh grade, when he made it known that he wanted to pursue music. The initial response from his parents was doubtful and unsupportive, but he didn’t let that discourage him. “I feel like it’s tough for any parent to accept, especially immigrant parents like mine, who worked so hard for me and my brother to live the life that we’re living.”
Saint explained how creative career paths are often met with contempt simply because they are not the norm. While he understands the risks that come with doing something unconventional, he also firmly believes that hardwork will pay off in any industry. “I really feel like no matter what you want to do, if you work at it, that shit is going to happen.”
For Saint there was never any contest, music has always been what he’s most passionate about. “There’s nothing else in my life that gives me as much joy as just playing the fucking piano. I tried everything else, I tried sports, I tried all that shit, and music was the only thing I ever actually got praise for.” Despite being home and not having access to his school’s resources/equipment, Saint has still been making music this quarantine. He recently released a three song EP called Charred Burner Phone, with the title being a nod to how the tracks were produced. “I recorded everything into voice memos and then airdropped it to my laptop. And then I mixed it in Logic and made all the beats in Logic. And I was thinking ‘Damn, this is some real burner phone music.’”
In addition to expressing himself authentically, Saint sees another important purpose for his music: “The thing I need to put first is the realities of people like me. I want to put whatever I can resource-wise when I’m older towards bettering the condition of creative kids.”
Saint sees creativity as a way to manifest change in the world, and aspires to accomplish this with his music.
Keep up with the adventures of Saint Sinbad by following him on Instagram and Spotify.
