YUNG SAMMY IS IN THE BUILDING AND GOING MUCH FURTHER

Born in Nigeria and raging in New Delhi, the rapper has now caught the attention of global players

- ANURAG TAGAT

Yung Sammy knows all too well that when a door closes, a window opens. After losing out on a chance to compete on hip-hop talent hunt MTV Hustle in 2023, he prepped his banger “4x4” with fellow Delhi NCR hip-hop artist Urban Poet.

The Noida-based Nigerian hip-hop artist wasn’t expecting much. Plus, he had already told his parents—including his father, a church priest in Delhi NCR—that he was going to be on TV for Hustle and didn’t have the heart to break the news that he was cut from the show. “They brought out the rule that it was only for Indian citizens,” he clarifies. But then “4x4” blew up, quickly becoming the kind of party track that can turn a night out in the capital into a scene. And soon enough, Desi Trill—the music movement, platform and label pushing South Asian sounds worldwide—wanted to work with the Hindi, Haryanvi and English rapper from Nigeria. “That [response] kept motivating me. And the rest is history, now we’re here today,” he says.