Sam Rui

Samantha (Sam) Casey Rui is a Singaporean singer-songwriter who is known for her contribution to the alternative R&B scene in Singapore. Sam Rui released her debut album in 2017. Sam Rui has performed on various stages including festivals such as St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2017 and Ultra Singapore 2017. Her songs have also appeared on Spotify’s Singapore Viral 50 Charts.

Sam Rui
Sam Rui Profile.jpg
Born
Samantha Casey Rui

5 January 1996
Alma materSchool of the Arts (SOTA), James Cook University
Websitehttps://www.facebook.com/samruimusic/

Background

Early life

Sam Rui had first dabbled in music when she joined the church choir at 3 years old.[1] At 7 years old, she attended her first piano lessons. As a teenager, she taught herself to play the guitar. While pursuing her education at the School of the Arts (SOTA), Sam Rui's specialisation in the Visual Arts was painting.[2]

Music career

Sam Rui started writing her own songs at 16 years old. At the time, her songs were about her depression.[3] Before focusing on music as her career, she was pursuing a Bachelors degree in Psychology and had aspired to become a clinical psychologist.[4] In 2013, Sam Rui participated in the National Arts Council's Noise Music Mentorship programme.[5]

Social media

Sam Rui most actively uploads her songs and covers onto her SoundCloud profile (SoundCloud Sam Rui). As of March 2019, she has more than 4,000 followers and more than 30 tracks on SoundCloud. Sam Rui also uploads her music videos, demos and song covers onto her YouTube channel (YouTube channel) where she has over 6,000 subscribers. Sam Rui also has a presence on Instagram (Instagram profile), Twitter (Twitter profile) and Facebook (Facebook page).

Discography

Albums

 
The album art for 'Season 2' (2017). Retrieved from Amazon.

Sam Rui released her first album titled 'Season 2' in 2017. ‘Season 2’ is a compilation and documentation of a significant phase in Sam Rui’s life.[6] Her song ‘Better’ ranked first on Spotify’s Singapore Viral 50 Charts when it was first released as a single.[7] Another song in the album titled ‘Solid Gold’ is about the first stranger she kissed.[8] She had also added his WhatsApp voice note at the end of the song.[9] In addition, her song ‘Don’t Lie’ had been added to Spotify’s ‘Singapore’s Top Acts’ playlist.

Album Season 2 Duration
1 Better 3:33
2 Don’t Lie 3:16
3 Boys 3:46
4 Your Girl 3:12
5 Down (feat. Fauxe) 3:06
6 Solid Gold 3:02
7 You 4:09
8 Let’s Get Coffee (Ft. Omar Kenobi) 4:23
9 Never Be (Let It Go) 2:29
10 20,000 4:31

Singles

 
The album art for 'Solid Gold' (2018). Retrieved from Amazon.
Year Title Duration
2018 Solid Gold (Ft. LXX, High4 20) 3:00

Collaborations & features

Year Title Duration Description
2019 Call, Call Me (Ft. Sam Rui & Gentle Bones) 3:47 Sam Rui was featured in a song by local DJ Myrne with local artist Gentle Bones.[10]
2018 VODKA (Ft. Sam Rui) 3:36 Sam Rui was featured in a collaboration album between Gentle Bones and MYRNE titled ‘B4NGER PROJECT’.
2017 You (Ft. Sam Rui) 4:00 Sam Rui was featured on Malaysian artist Alextbh’s single titled ‘You’.

Performances

 
Sam Rui pictured performing live. Photo from Eat Me Pop Tart.

Music festivals

Date Festival Organizer Location Refs.
April 2019 Skechers Sundown Festival 2019 Red Spade Entertainment Siloso Beach, Sentosa, Singapore
November 2018 G-Fest 2018 G-Shock *SCAPE Playscape, Singapore [11]
November 2017 SGMUSO Showcase Singapore Tourism Board Kensington Street, Sydney, Australia [12]
September 2017 Singapore Grand Prix 2017 Singapore Grand Prix Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore [13]
June 2017 Ultra Singapore 2017 Ultra Singapore Live Stage, Ultra Park, Singapore [14]
January 2017 St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival Singapore 2017 Laneway The Meadow, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore [15]

Ultra Singapore delayed performance fees (2018)

On 5 April 2018, Sam Rui directly addressed Ultra Singapore for not having paid her for her performance in Ultra Singapore 2017.[16] She had posted an Instagram story explaining her need for the money to produce more music. She then shared screenshots of the responses from Ultra Singapore’s management in which they had blamed her for not flagging the issue earlier. Ultra eventually apologised and paid Sam Rui six months worth of interest on top of the initial amount.[17]

Guest artist performances

Date Event Organizer Location Refs.
November 2018 Downtown East 30th Anniversary NTUC Downtown East Downtown East, Singapore [18]
March 2017 Zouk Official Opening Zouk Singapore Zouk Singapore (Clarke Quay) [19]
August 2016 #MixSomeNoise Noise Singapore Esplanade Concourse, Singapore [20]
July 2016 Take Heart Tour 2016 - The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel RWS [21]
August 2013 The Music Mentorship Concerts Noise Singapore Esplanade Outdoor Theatre and Concourse [22]

References / Citations

  1. Chan, Charlene. “Breaking Ground”. Underscore Magazine. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from:  http://underscoremagazine.com/sam-rui-laneway-festival-singapore/
  2. “Small Talk: Sam Rui”. Eat Me PopArt. October 10, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://eatmepoptart.com/small-talk-sam-rui/
  3. “Small Talk: Sam Rui”. Eat Me PopArt. October 10, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://eatmepoptart.com/small-talk-sam-rui/
  4. Ruis, Terence. “Sam Rui: The Next R&B Sensation”. Augustman. August 16, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://augustman.com/sg/trending/music/sam-rui-the-next-rb-sensation/
  5. Keng Yang Shuen. “Singapore Singer Sam Rui Is All About Catchy, Heartfelt Tunes”. Female Singapore. January 23, 2017. Accessed on 4 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.femalemag.com.sg/lifestyle/sam-rui-singapore-indie-music/  
  6. Ruis, Terence. “Sam Rui: The Next R&B Sensation”. Augustman. August 16, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://augustman.com/sg/trending/music/sam-rui-the-next-rb-sensation/  
  7. Keng Yang Shuen. “Singapore Singer Sam Rui Is All About Catchy, Heartfelt Tunes”. Female Singapore. January 23, 2017. Accessed on 4 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.femalemag.com.sg/lifestyle/sam-rui-singapore-indie-music/  
  8. Teo, Johanna. “SAM RUI TALKS SONGWRITING, RELATIONSHIPS AND BEING SELF-AWARE”. Teenage. August 21, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: http://teenage.com.sg/entertainment/sam-rui-talks-songwriting-relationships-and-being-self-aware/
  9. Teo, Johanna. “SAM RUI TALKS SONGWRITING, RELATIONSHIPS AND BEING SELF-AWARE”. Teenage. August 21, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: http://teenage.com.sg/entertainment/sam-rui-talks-songwriting-relationships-and-being-self-aware/
  10. “Call, Call Me (feat. Sam Rui & Gentle Bones)”. Spotify. Accessed on 2 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://open.spotify.com/album/1yWUzd2evnlHSpHwMPVzGJ
  11. Woon, Evan. “It’s Shocking: Caracal, Sam Rui And Shigga Shay To Perform At G-Shock’s 35th Anniversary This Month”. PopSpoken. November 15, 2018. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: http://popspoken.com/music/2018/11/its-shocking-caracal-sam-rui-and-shigga-shay-to-perform-at-g-shocks-anniversary-this-month
  12. Sofiana Ramli. “Interview: Sam Rui”. TimeOut Singapore. November 1, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.timeout.com/singapore/music/interview-sam-rui  
  13. Surej Singh. “Singapore GP announce more acts ahead for race weekend: THELIONCITYBOY, Tabitha Nauser, Sam Rui and more”. Bandwagon. August 31, 2017. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.bandwagon.asia/articles/singapore-gp-more-acts-2017-thelioncityboy-sam-rui-tabitha-nauser-stopgap
  14. “Ultra Singapore Previous Lineups”. Ultra Singapore. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://ultrasingapore.com/previous-lineups/
  15. Eddino Abdul Hadi. “Rising Singapore singer Sam Rui takes her place on Laneway line-up next year”. The Straits Times. September 14, 2016. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/young-singapore-talent-in-laneway
  16. Haymun Win. “R&B singer Sam Rui calls out organisers of Ultra Singapore for outstanding show fees – and then she got paid”. Business Insider. April 9, 2018. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.sg/singapore-rb-singer-sam-rui-calls-out-local-edition-of-ultra-fest-for-outstanding-show-fees-and-then-she-got-paid/
  17. Haymun Win. “R&B singer Sam Rui calls out organisers of Ultra Singapore for outstanding show fees – and then she got paid”. Business Insider. April 9, 2018. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.sg/singapore-rb-singer-sam-rui-calls-out-local-edition-of-ultra-fest-for-outstanding-show-fees-and-then-she-got-paid/
  18. “Downtown East 30th Anniversary”. Expat Living. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://expatliving.sg/event/downtown-east-30th-anniversary/
  19. “ZOUK OFFICIAL OPENING WITH BRASS NATION & SAM RUI FOLLOWED BY ONE DANCE WITH LINCEY”. Zouk Club. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://zoukclub.com/events/040317-zouk/
  20. “Sam Rui”. Esplanade. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.esplanade.com/festivals-and-series/noise-singapore/2016/sam-rui
  21. Teejay Vergara. “The Sam Willows Gets Emotional At First Ever Concert”. Native Entertainment. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: http://nativeentertainment.net/native-x-local-singapore-edition-2/the-sam-willows-gets-emotional-at-first-ever-concert
  22. “NOISE SINGAPORE 2013 FESTIVAL SHOWCASE: 27 JUL - 1 SEP 2013”. Noise Singapore. Accessed on 4 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.noisesingapore.com/Happenings/2013/7/27/Noise-Singapore-2013-Festival-Showcase-27-Jul--1-Sep-2013/