Samaria

Samaria excels at weaving compelling stories through contemporary R&B, whether she channels fictional figures or draws from lived experience. The Bay Area native launched her first commercial effort independently in 2015 with the EP The Story of Right Now, an outing that briefly preceded a major-label association with Republic. Remaining self-directed for several years afterward, she steadily built momentum via further EPs and numerous singles, culminating in the emotionally rich and assured Even Paradise Rains, released in 2024 on RCA.

Samaria Boykin grew up between Oakland and nearby Berkeley, where she took up keyboards and began composing as a child under the influence of her singer mother and her father, a member of a rap group. After her grandmother’s death, songwriting functioned as therapy throughout her early teens, a period that also marked her first recording sessions. A SoundCloud cover of Drake’s “Brand New” later connected her with producers DTB and Mill, who shaped her nine-track 2015 EP The Story of Right Now. A couple of years on, she relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of broader opportunities and landed a Republic deal following an opening slot for KR. The 2018 ballads “Foolish” and “Shy Girl” swiftly accumulated seven-figure streaming totals, after which she regained independence and returned in 2019 with the self-assured Adventures of a Lovergirl EP.

Over the ensuing period she delivered a string of singles that led to the Didn’t Start with You EP, home to “Out the Way” and “Still Got 4ever,” two cuts that demonstrate her knack for summoning late-’90s pop-R&B while maintaining a subtly personal expressive voice. Several more tracks issued from late 2023 into early 2024 cleared the path for Even Paradise Rains, her inaugural RCA project. Three of its eight songs feature collaborations with hitmaker Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, whose past work includes Brandy, Destiny’s Child, and Beyoncé.