• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Only at ESSENCE

Sammie Reveals He Almost Lost His Fortune And Career To A Scheming Ex-Manager

The singer stopped by ESSENCE, where he dished on losing it all and how his faith and his music provided the perfect recipe to come back.
Sammie Reveals He Almost Lost His Fortune And Career To A Scheming Ex-Manager
By Sydney Scott · Updated October 23, 2020
When R&B singer Sammie dropped a new album, Everlasting, last week, many thought that this was the singer’s long-awaited return,  but it isn’t. Sammie has remained busy creating mixtapes and hit singles, such as “Kiss Me Through The Phone,” even after an ex-manager emptied out his bank account, he revealed. The singer, who celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this month, told ESSENCE that he decided to return to music after finishing his senior year of high school. But the singer started to feel a disconnect after graduation, and things suddenly took a turn for the worst thanks to his then-manager.
“You know, you just hear those stories where one day they take everything? That legit happened,” he said. “He had access to my personal account, my credit card, co-signed on my Benz. There was a day where I had nothing in my account.” His ex-manager gave him an ultimatum: return and work with me and you’ll get everything back or else. So, Sammie decided to take a chance on his own. “I said, ‘Good luck. I’m not going back. I can’t sell my soul for success, or fame, or fortune,'” Sammie recalled, noting that it was not only hard to deal with this betrayal financially but emotionally since he had known his manager since he was 12 years old. “So, he was like a big brother to me.” “When I moved to Atlanta, I didn’t have family,” the singer continued. “I’m from Florida. When I moved to Atlanta, I was staying with him. So, I got my Benz. I didn’t have a lot of credit at the age of 18, he co-signed. Need an American Express Card with a $25,000 limit? [He] would be the primary account holder to make sure I’m not splurging.”
View this post on Instagram

Dear: Big Brother, this past month I've gotten a chance to witness a super star night in and night out exude greatness, showmanship, charisma, crazy vocal ability and a true pure love for his fans. You've been doing this for 17yrs now, I myself 14yrs. As we approach the last show of the first leg of the #SAVAGETOUR I wanted to publicly and personally thank you for being who I always knew you were, a true king and General of this r&b genre, in which we both love so dearly. Thank you for the encouragement and support, & for bringing a young lion like myself on board! Grateful always. 9/29 TOMORROW everyone go cop my brother's album SAVAGE! @therealtank love! #SAVAGETOUR #COA #SammieSeason #saviorofrnb #Top2 📸: @twelvepastseven #SA

A post shared by SAMMIE...I sing a bit 🎶 (@sammiealways) on Sep 28, 2017 at 12:13pm PDT

Sammie revealed that the financial strain on him resulted in “some dark days” and eventually him doing concerts so he could at least live “check to check.” Still, Sammie pushed through, making appearances on late night TV and later getting a deal with Interscope that, unfortunately, fell through. “I never came out under that umbrella because they found out there was this crazy guy that was having a hard time letting me go,” he said, referring to his ex-manager. “They don’t want to sign an act that already has these issues.” So the singer turned to songwriting, penning hits for Tank—who he refers to as his big brother—and ghostwriting for other performers until one day he found viral success thanks to The Shade Room.
View this post on Instagram

#PressPlay: Yassss #Sammie 😩😩😩

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Jun 30, 2016 at 6:33pm PDT

“The Shade Room posted me, and 4,000,000 views later, everybody starts reaching out saying, ‘Oh, I remember Sammie. You got a deal? You got a manager? What are you doing?'” But the singer wasn’t interested in giving up his independence, deciding instead to partner with Empre . Now, following the 2016 release of Indigo, Sammie has arrived with a new album that gets back to his R&B roots.
“I’ve already been through the worst that you could go through. I’ve already lost a car. I already saw my credit go from a 780 to a Lord knows what,” he said. “All this while taking care of my sister, helping my mom, and still helping my pops.” “When I think about how I was still sustaining back then, it’s funny, because now I know it was just God,” Sammie said. “How was I making this amount of money stretch while doing this, while I never lost my home? You know what I mean? I wasn’t living freely as I was accustomed to, but I got everything back tenfold.”
TOPICS:  sammie
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now