1999–2001: From the Bottom to the Top Sammie first gained notice for his voice when appearing on
Showtime at the Apollo in 1998, and winning for his rendition of
Stevie Wonder's "
My Cheri Amour". In 1999, Sammie was signed to
Capitol Records and released his debut album,
From the Bottom to the Top, on March 14, 2000. Debuting at number 46 on the U.S.
Billboard 200 charts, it was certified gold by the
RIAA for more than 500,000 copies shipped to stores. The first single, "
I Like It" reached number 24 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number 8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, simultaneously became gold-certified by the RIAA. In 2001, Sammie also contributed chorus vocals for "Hardball", a collaboration with rappers
Lil' Bow Wow,
Lil' Wayne and
Lil' Zane for the
Hardball soundtrack. The song reached number 77 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
2005–2012: Sammie After taking a hiatus from the music industry to focus on school, the singer graduated from
West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida at age 18 in 2005. He signed to
Dallas Austin's
Rowdy Records, where he re-entered the studio with top producers Dallas Austin,
Jazze Pha, and
Bryan-Michael Cox for his second studio album,
Sammie (2006). The album debuted at number 42 on the
Billboard 200 chart. Also in 2008, he released the single “One Way Street.” In 2012, he co-wrote the song "Next Breath" for singer
Tank's fifth studio album,
This Is How I Feel. Also in 2012, Sammie released his mixtape “Insomnia,” followed by “The Leigh Bush Project” EP in 2013.
2016–present: Indigo, Coming of Age, Everlasting & Verzuz In January 2016, Sammie released his retail mixtape,
Indigo via his own imprint StarCamp Music. His third album,
Coming of Age was released in September 2017. His fourth album
Everlasting was released in March 2019. In June 2019, Sammie embarked on “The Everlasting Tour” performing in intimate settings, giving his fans an up close experience. Sammie later dropped an EP called “Send Nudes” in December 2019. He also is in the lineup for The Millennium Tour 2020, joining headliner
Omarion,
Bow Wow,
Pretty Ricky,
Soulja Boy,
Lloyd,
Ashanti, and
The Ying Yang Twins. In June 2020, he released his fifth album, "Such Is Life". In June 2022, Sammie participated in the musical web series
Verzuz, where he shared the stage with his teammate
Pleasure P, and opponents
Bobby V and
Ray J. Their performances went viral over social media after a string of mishaps on stage, but Sammie was favored by viewers who deemed him a 'winner' out of all the participants in their match. This led him to go on a series of
boasts on Instagram, where he was challenged by his teammate and opponents. This then led to many live streaming chats where the men discussed their flaws and success and eventually led to an idea to develop and form a
supergroup named
R.S.V.P. The group currently is in production stages and is working on releasing on EP later this year. ==Personal life==