Samurai Champs is a Canadian recording and performing future-hip-hop/R&B duo. Comprised of rapper Jeah and singer Merv xx Gotti, the duo draw influence from their Southeast Asian heritage, while taking pride in their urban-Canadian identity. Blending Jeah’s versatile rap delivery with Merv xx Gotti’s emotional R&B vocals, the duo create a smooth, yet dark coalescence of contemporary hip-hop/R&B.
Following their recent SMA 2019 - Hip Hop Artist of the Year award, as well as Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMAs) 2019 - Urban Artist of the Year nomination, Samurai Champs are currently touring their debut album, Cabernet Sauvignon. The album’s singles have been featured on media outlets such as Sora Music Asia and HipHopCanada, received playlist placement on Spotify’s official Just Vibing and Fresh Finds: The Wave curatorial playlists, and the album itself has been streamed over 100,000 times within the first week of its release.
The album was mixed by New York’s MSR Studios alumni, Walter Jeworski, and Jazz Cartier’s Juno Award-winning producer and engineer, Michael Lantz. The album was mastered by Chris Athens, mastering engineer behind Drake’s Grammy Award-winning album, Views. Blending the diverse sounds of Toronto’s OVO Sound label with the soulful minimalism of L.A.’s Soulection, Cabernet Sauvignon is Samurai Champs’ first full-length commercial release, and now available on all music platforms.
Samurai Champs has toured internationally and performed at festivals such as SXSW (Austin, TX), NXNE (Toronto, ON), Music Matters Live (Singapore), Reeperbahn (Hamburg, GE), The Great Escape (Brighton, UK), Tallinn Music Week (Tallinn, Estonia), Upstream Music Fest (Seattle, WA), Sound City (Liverpool, UK), BreakOut West (Edmonton, AB), and many more.
Surrounding Samurai Champs’ European tours, the duo have received notable festival press highlights from significant UK media outlets. The UK’s largest independent music blog, The Line of Best Fit listed Samurai Champs as one of 20 Of The Most Exciting Bands On The Planet To See At The Great Escape. As well, UK music news site Gigwise named Samurai Champs as one of the 11 New Bands From The Great Escape That You Need In Your Life and 5 Top Acts to see at Tallinn Music Week.