Isaac Sakima (born 20 March 1991), known professionally as Sakima, is an English singer-songwriter and producer.

Early life

Isaac Sakima is originally from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, but was raised in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

. He later returned to Newcastle and identifies as a

Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...

. At the age of 6, Sakima felt his first gay attraction towards another classmate. He started making music at 8 years old.

Career

Sakima is a London-based singer-songwriter. His debut single "Energy" was premiered by

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

in August 2014 and was described as a "moody pop ballad". He has worked with Cyril Hahn and

Ryan Hemsworth Ryan Hemsworth (born 23 April 1990) is a Canadian record producer and DJ. He specialises in electronic music and sampling. He has produced tracks for Tinashe, Tory Lanez, Mitski, and E-40. Biography Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hemsworth a ...

. Sakima was working with a Chicago-based manager Ardie Farhadieh and the company Wick Management. Farhadieh connected Sakima with

Jakwob James Edward Jacob (born 28 March 1989), better known by his stage name Jakwob, is a British music producer, songwriter and DJ. Early life As a multi-instrumentalist, Jacob has been involved in many bands since his early teenage years – star ...

and his label Boom Ting for his song "Energy". In 2014, Sakima was managed by the UK-based company, Empire. In May 2017 Sakima released his debut EP, ''Facsimile'', containing four-tracks. ''Out'' describes ''Facsimile'' as "an accidental gateway into queer eroticism". The opening track is titled "I Used to Have an En Suite". Other tracks include "He's Trippi" and "Happy Hr". "He's Trippi" was influenced by

Zayn Malik Zain Javadd Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993), known mononymously as Zayn, is an English pop and R&B singer. Zayn auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010. After being eliminate ...

's "

She She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...

". Sakima liked the song but noticed the pronouns and highly sexualised nature of the song. He wanted to release a song using pronouns applicable to gay people. He released his EP ''Ricky'' on 13 October 2017. On the seven-track EP, Sakima sings about the rejection of

heteronormativity Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most ...

and explores

Polari Polari () is a form of slang or cant used in Britain and Ireland by some actors, circus and fairground showmen, professional wrestlers, merchant navy sailors, criminals, sex workers and the gay subculture. There is some debate about its origins ...

. The track "Daddy", featuring YLXR, used Polari in a queer-themed song inspired by "

Work from Home Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, war ...

". Sakima released the single "Death Is in the Air" on 16 February 2018 after hearing

Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Selena ...

's interview on the ''And the Writer Is...'' podcast. He released the LGBT-themed single "Show Me" in 2018, which explores

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

and

cruising for sex Cruising for sex, or cruising, is walking or driving about a locality, called a cruising ground, in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety. Published: 11-14-2007 Published: 9-21-2005 Article from NYT about ...

. In 2018,

R3hab Fadil El Ghoul ( ar, فضيل الغول; born 2 April 1986), performing under the stage name R3hab (stylized in all caps as R3HAB; pronounced "rehab"), is a Dutch-Moroccan disc jockey and music producer. Ranked at number 12 on the DJ Mag Top 1 ...

released the album ''The Wave'', including the track "Back to You" with Sakima. On 14 September 2018, Sakima released the single "Holy Water" from his debut album ''Project Peach'', which was released in 2019. Joshua Bote of ''Billboard'' describes "Holy Water" as "with a reverb-and-trap-heavy fog surrounding him, he treads through self-love as a spiritual exercise, in effect, turning

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

's iconic mantra into a prayer of sorts". His single "Apps" was inspired by

hookup culture Hookup culture is one that accepts and encourages casual sex encounters, including one-night stands and other related activity, without necessarily including emotional intimacy, bonding or a committed relationship. It is generally associated with ...

and the relationship complications caused by

dating app An online dating application is an online dating service presented through a mobile phone application (app), often taking advantage of a smartphone's GPS location capabilities, always on-hand presence, easy access to digital photo galleries and ...

s. In 2021, Sakima released the single "Sleepy Head" and co-wrote several singles for other artists, such

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ver ...

's "

Love (Sweet Love) "Love (Sweet Love)" is a song recorded by British girl group Little Mix. It was released on 3 September 2021 through RCA Records, as a single in support of their first greatest hits album '' Between Us''. The single was written by group member ...

" and Regard,

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his thi ...

and

Tate McRae Tate Rosner McRae (; born July 1, 2003) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. At the age of thirteen, she gained prominence as the first Canadian finalist on the American reality TV show ''So You Think You Can Dance''. McRae cau ...

's "

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

Artistry

In the media, Sakima has been described as a " R&B artist", "

alternative pop Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

singer", " electro-R&B musician", and a " pop artist". Sakima sings pop and R&B songs with queer themes. Sakima stated that he aims to add queer stories and a gay perspective to traditional pop and R&B music with the hope of normalising LGBT experiences.

Personal life

Sakima lives in London. He is a gay man. On his sexuality, Sakima reported that "I never 'realized' I was gay...I always knew. I’ve never known anything different. I’ve never known what it's like to be in the closet. I've never known what it’s like to be separate from that part of yourself".

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

* "Energy" (2014) *"Death Is in the Air" (2018) * "Show Me" (2018) *"Back To You" (2018) with

*"Holy Water" (2018) *"Apps" (2018) *"Virtus Domum" (2018) *"U Dnt Fk Me Up" (2020) *"Sleepy Head" (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakima 21st-century English male singers English male singer-songwriters English pop singers English gay musicians English LGBT singers English LGBT songwriters Living people Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne People from Milton Keynes Gay singers Gay songwriters British contemporary R&B singers 21st-century British male singers English rhythm and blues singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 1991 births

Early life

Career

Artistry

Personal life

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

See also

References