If You Don’t Mind (No) – Sami Afüni
My name is Sami Afüni, I’m 22 years old, and I was born and raised in Brisbane, Australia, but also spent 9 years of my life in Kuwait. I am of Egyptian and Jordanian descent. I like to represent my heritage through my videos with Ancient Egyptian symbolism. I am currently living in Brisbane. I am a student at the moment, and I am also an actor. I am represented by the best in Queensland and one of Australia’s top acting agencies, Kubler Auckland Management.
In terms of my hobbies, aside from writing music, creating art, and acting, I like to watch and play soccer, it helps me stay fit. I am also big into meditation and positive energy and I love to get inspired by scenery and happenings around me. I am a city boy, I’m always around the Brisbane CBD with my people living the Brisbane life to our fullest. I love this city and aim to always make it proud and carry it with my wherever I go. I indicate this with a line in my new song If You Don’t Mind (No), where I say “I put my city on my back like its Metropolis”.
Music has always been a big part of my life. I come from a very musical family. My parents and sisters were singers and my brother played just about every instrument you can imagine. My cousin Rami Afuni is a Universal Records producer based in New York and is known for his work with Miley Cyrus, Keisza and Lady Gaga. My brother in law Omar Ibouten, founder of Sheikk Productions, is also a producer, so music was always around me. I went through many phases of music, from Rap, to Punk Rock, to House to Funk to Pop – I think that helps me be diverse in the sound of music I create.
I grew up playing instruments like drums, piano, and guitar, but never did any vocal work until my brother-in-law Omar Ibouten, founder of Sheikk Productions, inspired me to create a hip hop mixtape. I fell in love with the art of writing and creating melodies. After putting records on Soundcloud under the name “Sami Afuni Baby”, I was approached to be on the show The X Factor Australia.
That was when I sang for the first time in my life. I was then scouted by Iggy Azalea to be put in a boy band and we made it to the top 8 of the show. The show kickstarted the confidence I now have in myself every time I go on stage. The band and I decided that we wouldn’t continue after we all had different ideas and visions. That’s when I decided to build myself up as a solo artist and find my spice. It has been a long journey, but something I kept doing was sticking at writing and creating whatever came to my head, and I am now ready to release it all, starting with my debut single and music video in If You Don’t Mind (No).
My music is inspired mostly by the situations that have occurred throughout my life. It is a way for me to express my stories and emotions and let others into my thought process. I also find a lot of inspiration from other artists that I listen to. I am always open to learning and adapting and trying new things. I never feel like I’m limited to one genre or style. In this day and age, it’s easy to find inspirations when it comes to this. My biggest inspiration is my love and passion for music and storytelling. At the end of the day, I just want to create art.
My song If You Don’t Mind (No) is a song that is inspired by my journey through life. The concept of the song is breaking through barriers and expectations, and staying true to yourself regardless of what people expect, think or perceive of you. Throughout my life, I’ve been very lucky and blessed with things I’ve done and achieved. I’ve grown a lot and the best thing about it all is that I’ve stayed true to myself, true to my morals and ethics and I make it very clear.
Even with my story being clear, some people still choose to ignore it and think that I would be willing to change this and jump on a hype train, just because they see themselves as a person of higher fame or status or whatever. In this song I make it clear that to those people I say no. No, I will not take up that offer even if it was for 2 million dollars (wouldn’t mind that tho) if it meant going against what got me to where I am in the first place. It is also directed to those who expect me to change or think I have changed just because of a taste of success (For example X Factor).
Expectations and perceptions are things that change from person to person, and that is something that I played on in the music video. The story of each character comes down to the perception of the audience. From my context, in the beginning, I want this girl, and she rejects me because she thinks I’m a player or asshole due to the people I hang out with.
Throughout the clip, she begins to see I’m a good guy and in the end, finally knows the real me. She represents the people in my life, who expected bad out of me, or misread my intentions, or assumed the worse in me because of things they had perceived of me. And my position and feelings towards her also represent what I feel in real life. Regardless of any hate, negativity, or bad assumptions that come my way, I will never stoop to that level and will always see the best in people and treat them right.
My dream artist to collaborate with would have to be Majid Jordan. Their music hits me on another level. They are so unique with their sound and have such a wavy vibe. Their music gets better the more you listen to it and that’s something that I strive to incorporate into my songs. Jordan Ullman is such a talented producer and Majid Al Maskati is an amazing vocalist, so they would make me look good on any collab. If you appreciate art, you’ll appreciate Majid Jordan, simple as that.
In 5 years time, I would like to see a more productive and smart working version of myself now. I don’t necessarily have anything specific in mind because this is a journey that can take me anywhere, I can’t see the future and I don’t want to limit myself to anything. I am an optimist. I am confident in my talents and abilities and feel that if I stayed consistent with my productivity and smart work, then I can achieve whatever I put my mind to. At the end of the day, I do what I do because I love it, and enjoy it. I am not dependant on it. So I come with nothing to lose, all to gain. So wherever I am in 5 years, as long as I have put my all into doing the most I can do, then I will know that it was meant to be and that I am thankful for it.
For young artists, my advice would be, do what you wanna do, try what you wanna try, be what you wanna be. Live your life, enjoy it, don’t be afraid to express yourself. This is an industry with next to no limits. Screw egos. Screw opinions and standards. Create your story and enjoy the process as much as the outcome.
Below is Sami’s new song – If You Don’t Mind (No)