Munoz-Villanueva: I remember one of the first times I felt like I belonged somewhere.
I went to check out a LGBTQ+ Mental Wellness Group meeting at my college.
Almost as soon as I walked in, this super energetic guy greeted me like we’d known each other forever.
He complimented my outfit and asked me if I wanted a sticker that read SAM0 BEATS, his musical alias.
Obviously I said yes.
I immediately followed him on Spotify and Instagram, and listened to his music later that day.
I loved it.
Samere Bhatt, or Sam0, is the president of the LGBTQ+ Alliance Club at De Anza College, where he’s been selected as this year’s grad speaker.
The beginning of his musical journey started at around ten years old. He was part of his school’s band where he played drums and the trumpet, but his personal style developed by playing around on his computer and mixing sounds.
He takes inspiration from different artists including Skrillex, Miles Davis, Daft Punk, Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears.
Munoz-Villanueva: Sam0’s music is a combination of electronic with elements of hyperpop, hip-hop and sometimes indie. On Spotify his songs have over a thousand plays, and he’s getting booked at shows around the Bay Area.
Sam0’s journey, though, wasn’t an easy one.
SAM0: I am transgender. Let the record say that. It took a while for me to get here, you know, cuz um, it's kind of a given that that Desi parents or like Indian parents are not super mm-hmm. Like supportive of gay or trans people. I'm both, um, but yeah, I, I used to think of myself as a burden for a very long time. And then I started to transition. I used to think of my existence as wrong.
Munoz-Villanueva: Over the years he’s learned to own his identity.
SAM0: Now I'm like, you know what? Like, this is who I am. I'm owning my identity. And everyone that's, that has a problem with it is just mad that they can't do the same. So, in short, I love being brown and trans. I wouldn't wanna change anything. It's two beautiful communities to be a part of.
Munoz-Villanueva: Sam0 aims to represent the brown trans community through his music.
SAM0: I feel like there's like not much like queer representation. In these issues.
So I kind of want to change that. Even though like if you listen to it, like it's not super serious or lyrical or anything like that, right?
But I still think that that's like who we are as a like, as a brown queer person.
It's, it's part of our culture to just like, have fun, just like be ourselves.
That's kind of what I want to push with my music.