Samara Cyn is a budding rapper and singer based in Los Angeles. She gained a bit of notoriety in 2024 after her freestyle over Tyler, The Creator's "MASSA" became popular on Twitter. Cyn has also had to deal with some Doja Cat comparisons. Her vocal inflections are undeniably reminiscent of the pop superstar's own delivery.
However, she separated herself from those comparisons (for the most part) with the release of her debut album, The Drive Home. She's also worked with artists like Ovrkast., La Reezy, and others. She's operating in her own lane. And now, about nine months after releasing The Drive Home, Samara Cyn is back with the follow-up, an EP called backroads.
backroads is just five songs and 17 minutes, which actually means it's almost as long as her album despite there being half as many songs. There's no filler in this collection of tracks either. Some of the most assured performances of Samara Cyn's young career are on this release. The standout track is, perhaps unsurprisingly, "brand new teeth." It is an excellent cut with the consistently great Smino delivering another great verse on the back half of the track.
It's a mellow track, produced by several hip-hop mainstays, including Emil (Noname and Doja Cat) D'Mile (a multi-time Grammy winner with H.E.R. and Silk Sonic), and JaVonté (best known for being Top Dawg Entertainment's go-to hook guy in the late 2000s and beginning of the 2010s). They create a soundscape for both Cyn and Smino to do their thing over. The result is one of the best songs that Cyn has made to this point. "brand new teeth" is not the only great song on this EP. However, if you were to only listen to one thing from here, that should be your choice. All of backroads is worth your time, and you can check it out (in full) below.
Samara Cyn - backroads (EP)
backroads tracklist:
summer's turning
Pop n Olive (feat. Sherwyn)
hardheaded
Bad Brain
brand new teeth (feat. Smino)
