Musical chameleon Imani Coppola has had quite a busy year thus far. She released the politically driven “Rattle” in late April, according to a previous mxdwn article, and a few months later she is back with yet another politically driven single, “SAMO,” per a press email sent to mxdwn.

“SAMO” is described as having a “theatrical bent with strong R&B influences, highlighting not only her incendiary vocal prowess, but also her skillful command of the violin” in the press release.

Listen to “SAMO” below.

Coppola has this to say about the new single in the press release; “’SAMO’ is essentially an imagined friendship with [celebrated graffiti artist Jean-Michel] Basquiat throughout the decades. As the world was changing, I imagined how he and his art would’ve been affected had he thrived in a different time.” She explained “I also managed to use his tag name ‘SAMO’, which is a short version of “Same ol’ bullsh**”, to cynically state that nothing ever really changes in American society, it only gets stupider and we’re becoming more accustomed to accepting that as the new normal.”

Coppola is a genius on the violin and her beautiful voice creates a dissonance with the bleak lyrics that describe how the world has always been a messed up place.

The song paints three parallel situations, one in 1979, one forty years later in the current year, and one in 2006. The situation that runs through all the stories in the song is pretty much chaos and how the world has always been full of the “SAMO,” or “the same ol’ bs.”

The situation in 1979 was a bombing on a train, “The Bronx was burning and the city was turning in its grave/Beats were breaking/ bombed D trains scraping through the tunnel to the fright of day.” The situation in 2006 was the aftermath of living in a post 9/11 world and the rise of police brutality. The situation for current years is how social media is running our lives, the rise of cryptocurrency, the rise of gun violence, and the ridiculousness of our current political situation with Kanye West wanting to run for President.

“SAMO” is just what the world needs right now, and can be purchased on your choice of streaming service here.