Sam Chimes is a Nigerian-Canadian Artist who brings live Jazz and improv elements to his upbeat style of Hip-Hop. He has a recognizable name, brand, and sound in Metro Vancouver, having been a street performer locally and internationally for over 5 years.

Sam’s love for Jazz started on the piano as a child, and he continued playing piano in various jazz ensembles during secondary school. Sam completed his English and Sociology undergrad before attending Vancouver Film School’s ‘Sound for Visual Media’ program. This program allowed him to combine his love for sound with his love for storytelling. Since graduating, Sam has worked on several feature films and tv series, including “No Tomorrow,” “Man in the High Castle,” and “Bad Times at the El Royale,” to name a few.

Because work in the film industry was very seasonal, in the winter of 2018, Sam decided to take his piano directly to the street and start performing as a street performer. He was drawn to the direct to fan experience and quickly began to build a buzz with his interactive style. In 2019, Sam was invited to “Ideas Island” in Sweden, where he was given the opportunity to collaborate with various artists and travel as a street performer. He toured through Europe, playing over 500 shows in four countries. Sam returned to Vancouver to officially release his first single “Grateful.” His live street performances were now of international standard, earning him a nomination for the 2019 Golden Owl "Best Breakout Artist of the Year Award,” which was ultimately won by Manila Grey.

In 2020, Sam performed at the RAW Artist Showcase in Vancouver. The organizers were so blown away by his live performance, which included original songs, freestyles, DJing, live looping and crowd interaction, that they invited Sam to be part of their Australia tour. Sam spent the remainder of 2020 touring venues in Austraila, while still squeezing in a few street performances between tour dates. Sam returned to Vancouver during the beginning of Covid lockdown measures. Sam used the downtime to build a catalogue on Spotify of original music, including in-studio singles and live performances. In 2022, Sam released his single, “My Favorite Song,” which was supported by Creative BC’s Vancouver Music Fund.

With the reopening of live events, Sam travelled to South Korea for the first Busker's World Cup at the end of 2022 where he placed in the Top 20. With Sam’s increase in live bookings, he signed with Divinity DJs to manage his live performances at various private events and festivals across Metro Vancouver, allowing him to free up time to continue street performing and work on his next single.