American Idol winner Just Sam reveals they went back to singing on the subway for money
American Idol winner Just Sam has hit back at followers who are ‘sad and confused’ about resuming singing on the New York subway for money – three years after coming out on top of the singing contestants in attendance.
Just Sam, 24, who uses her/her pronouns, was singled out after wowing the judges and hundreds of thousands of viewers with her incredible voice on the ABC series’ eighteenth season.
Despite their success at the moment, the up-and-coming musician, whose real name is Samantha Diaz, only recently revealed that they need to find money, but urged their supporters to be “patient” with them and insisted that this is not the end of their story.
“I know it upsets a lot of people and a lot of people get confused when I go back to street artists for money, but please don’t worry,” they captioned their latest Instagram video of themselves on a training platform.
American Idol winner Just Sam has responded to followers who are “sad and confused” that they’ve gone back to singing on the subway for cash – three years after the lucrative present
Justa Sam, 24, who uses he/they pronouns, was singled out after she wowed the judges along with her incredible voice on the ABC series’ eighteenth season.
Despite their success in the present, the aspiring musician (just recently seen on the left of the present and in the right place) has revealed that they had to go “money-making”.
This is only part of the story, not the pinnacle of it. I have a lot of faith in God and I know that extra is coming quickly.
But they urged their supporters to be ‘patient’ with them, insisting this is not ‘the end of their story’.
The singer added that “a lot of people” have “shown them love” and “supported them on her journey” since they first revealed they were back on the streets in May.
“In the meantime, I ask you all to be patient with me because God is not done with me yet,” they concluded.
Earlier this month, Sam spoke to TMZ about their struggle to become an artist after winning in May 2020.
They defined: “I thought, ‘That’s it, me and my grandmother will never have the same struggles again.’ But in reality it was not.
The 24-year-old added that because they were crowned “at the start of COVID”, they were “difficult” to find work.
“Everything was shutting down. People didn’t want to work in the studios right away. People were trying to figure out how to get back to what would be normal for us,” they continued.
“It took me a few months to even get into the studio, which is sad. I live outside the hotel.
“I know this upsets a lot of people and a lot of people are confused when I go back to chasing money, but please don’t worry,” they captioned the latest statement posted on Instagram.
This is only part of the story, not the pinnacle of it. I have a lot of faith in God and I know that extra is coming quickly.
Earlier this month, Sam (seen now) told TMZ that they had a “difficult” job search because of their high scores “at the start of COVID”.
They additionally defined that they entered the competition with little or no knowledge and information about the business, which made it much more difficult for them.
“I sure need to read more now,” they mentioned. “Contracts are a serious matter.
“I was like, ‘Okay, yeah,’ and I just signed things, and that’s not how it happens. You can’t just move. This leaves you in awkward situations. That’s one thing I’ve learned.
After the win, they were initially signed to a Hollywood record label, but disbanded soon after.
On Instagram, they claimed that after they left, they were forced to pay a large amount of money to the label to get the rights to the songs they recorded, which they said were “broken”.
Since then, they have released five songs through independent digital music service DistroKid.
They recently started one GoFundMe page where $830 has been raised so far. They also revealed online that acclaimed producer Timbaland and popular rapper Lil Durk have reached out to show their support.
In their GoFundMe bio, Just Sam admitted that they often run into people asking questions like, “What happened to you?” – which is not easy for them.
“While I am very grateful for my journey, I have faced social media harassment, questions about my health, and even false accusations of addiction,” they wrote.
“Everything was closed. People didn’t want to work in the studios right away,” they mentioned. You can see them in the present
They claimed that they were pressured to pay a large sum of cash to Hollywood Records after parting ways with the label in order to obtain the rights to the songs they had recorded.
“The music industry was simply not ready to launch a new artist during a global emergency.
Everything was unknown and scary and my career started to fall through the cracks.
“I know everything happens for a reason and I know this too shall pass no matter how things look right now,” they said on Instagram.
“I just want to make music that showcases my skills, heritage, quirks and sensitivity, not media that focuses on poverty or family pain. I just want to sing and my goal is to share new music with my fans.
In another social media post, Just Sam said he was excited for what was to come and was only proud of his journey.
“2021. I was extremely uncomfortable going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I really needed the money, and I didn’t want people to know that it was optional,” they defined.
“I was disappointed in myself for letting myself fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy and remember that I started my journey with Idol when I was 20 years old, not even knowing anything about the Hollywood music industry.
“Since then I have learned so much and been able to share my experiences with other artists in hopes that they will not go through the same thing I did while creating in this lifetime.
“I never expected to win but I did, I was very grateful and I know people feel I let them down.
“I used to feel like I was letting myself down and letting everyone down. But I know there’s more to me.
“I know that everything happens for a reason, and I know that this too shall pass, no matter how things look now.”
