At barely 24, Samuel has already had a long, at times tumultuous, career in the K-pop scene. Having moved to South Korea to start training to become an idol at only 10-years-old, he’s seemingly done it all. He’s been part of a duo, had a solo career, a collaboration with Silentó, and even competed to be part of some of the biggest K-pop groups of the last decade (he dropped out of the original lineup for Seventeen and almost made it into Wanna One). In the Korean industry, Samuel had always leaned more into his Korean identity, sharing very little about his Mexican side and going professionally by his Korean surname, Kim. But once he announced he was titling his latest EP SAMUELiTO earlier this summer, fans immediately knew—his Latino era was finally coming.
Before the arduous schedule of a K-pop artist, Samuel Arredondo Kim was Samuelito from Bakersfield, CA. Born to a Korean mom and a Mexican dad from Michoacán, he had a multicultural upbringing with a strong Hispanic influence. He always had a knack for dancing, and after starring in his dad’s car dealership commercials, Samuel moved to Korea with his mom at a very young age after winning a local talent competition. This ultimately made him lose part of his identity in the process. “I didn’t have an environment to speak Spanish. I spoke in Korean and English,” he explains. “But for this album, to be honest, singing-wise, the lyrics and pronunciation, it wasn’t that hard.”
For many Latine and Latin American fans across the world, Samuel has been a beacon of representation in the K-pop industry, which rarely sees performers from our communities in their ranks. It’s still very common to see people on social media claiming him as their son, primo, or nephew, though he says he now sees a lot of “papi.” “I just feel like the way how they react, how they interact, it’s just crazy, like their passion for supporting is indescribable,” he says about the comments from his Latine fans. “It’s just amazing, and even today is a blessing.”
Fans claiming him as their own traces back to when he made his debut at 13. Samuel remembers noticing fans calling him by his childhood nickname. “I was like, ‘There’s no way anyone knows this nickname of mine.’ Fans were like, ‘Samuelito, Samuelito.’ How did they know this nickname?” he recounts. Convinced he was the only Samuelito, he reached out to his family back in Bakersfield. “I was like, ‘Did you tell my fans that nickname?’ And they were like, ‘No. This is a cultural way of calling someone by their name in a cute way, a little one. We add ‘-ito.’ ‘Oh! So that’s why you guys call me ‘Samuelito.’”
Those are the types of memories Samuel kept going back to once in the studio working on his latest record. He didn’t want to present an overproduced concept; he had done that his entire career at different Korean labels, when decisions weren’t up to him. This time, he wanted to not only be himself, but show a side he had kept to himself. “[I wanted to go back] to where I started and how I’ve become the person I am today,” he explains. That was Samuelito.
SAMUELiTO (June 8) sees him playing with the genres that fueled his upbringing: reggaeton and K-pop. The lead single “ZIGI-ZIGI-ZIGI” brings a refreshingly global, futuristic take on reggaeton to K-pop, which has historically relied on outdated and even caricaturesque takes on Latine rhythms and language. Serving Saturno-era Rauw Alejandro vibes (who is his biggest inspiration), the track hauntingly thumps through the stylish pop-R&B vocals delivered in a tasteful mix of English, Korean, and Spanish. “A mí me sigue un fuego / Baby, yo estoy ardiendo /No te vayas a quemar,” he sings in the bridge, declaring not only his intentions, but just how badly he wants them. And, of course, the K-pop background comes in clutch with a choreography so insane it elevates his star power. “DDOOK DDAK” also lives in the experimental “ZIGI-ZIGI-ZIGI” planet, while injecting a more romanticized Latine flair.
“I didn’t want to fake it. I didn’t want to fake anything,” Samuel explains. “This is the first time that I’m coming out with music from my background. The style, the concept, the whole direction. I’ve always loved listening to a lot of Latin and reggaeton music.” He shares how even during his “Produce 101” days, the reality competition show he lost, he was listening to Rauw. “The whole purpose for this was just to remind people who I really am.”
Samuel says reconnecting with his Latinidad came naturally, rather than following a music trend or being encouraged by people around him. “It felt like my heart kept reminding me that that’s the path I should go on. I kept thinking, ‘Why does it feel like I have to go back to where I came from? Where I first lived on this Earth, my backgrounds, what I first listened to, what I loved eating while I was growing up, who I hung out with.’ And all that stuff connected to one: my Latino roots.”
As Samuel grows older and divides his time between Seoul and Los Angeles, he’s becoming more comfortable with embracing all sides of his heritage. “When I visit LA-Bakersfield, I meet my tías and my uncles and cousins, and they always say to me this: ‘The way you sit, the way you talk, and the way you do your gestures, it reminds me of your dad.’ And that’s when I knew that this is why you cannot hide your genetics and your blood, the way you were born.”
The journey toward embracing his Latinidad more is embodied in SAMUELiTO. Another notable track on the EP is “NEVER SAY GOODBYE…,” a tribute to his late father disguised as a tender love song. “Tus besos, un milagro / Disuelven todo lo malo / Me tienes preguntando / ¿Pa’ qué nos lastimamos? / I-I-I don’t want to let you go,” he yearns over a groovy, mid-tempo reggaeton beat.
“For me, when I make music, I don’t think about the lyrics first. I think about what feels good first cause I feel like, especially if I’m going to do reggaeton, the feeling is the most important thing,” he notes, as he co-produced and co-wrote the EP. “Even the melodies, the sounds that you use of the snare and the kicks, and the little percussion in the back, the sound choice is very important when it comes to reggaeton.”
But this four-song EP isn’t just a gift for fans or a one-off reggaeton venture. Samuel admits that his intention with SAMUELiTO was to test the waters. And since he loves to give a spoiler, he teases: “Right now, I am in the process of making a new album, and it’s gonna sound great. Still in the Latin universe,” he shares. “For the next one, I think that’s when people are gonna really feel and look at me differently.”
So is Samuel pursuing the Latine music market in the cards? “Why not?” he answers with confidence. “I would love to step in. I’m pretty sure my dad and my dad’s side [of the family] would be proud as well. They’ve always told me since I was young, ‘When you grow up, remember you gotta do Spanish [music], you gotta do reggaeton,’ and I was like, ‘Ok!’”
“And then [when my album] came out, I sent the links, and they were like cussing, they were like talking all that stuff and like, ‘Wow, this crazy.’ And then they were like, ‘What’s next?’ [But] I’m just gonna do whatever my body tells me. They’re excited, I’m excited,” he says with a smile. “Yeah, I’m just gonna see how it goes.”
SAMUELiTO is out now.