Why Sammycleen Wrote “24 Directions” After Choosing Himself
There comes a point when confusion stops feeling romantic. The late-night conversations. The mixed signals. The feeling of always being close enough to matter, but never close enough to be chosen.
For Sammycleen, that realization became the foundation of his upcoming single, 24 Directions. The song was born from a situationship that left him emotionally exhausted, constantly trying to make sense of someone else’s uncertainty. Instead of finding clarity, he found himself going in circles.
Eventually, something shifted. “I finally chose me,” he says.
What followed wasn’t just the end of a relationship. It was the beginning of a different relationship with himself.
That moment became 24 Directions.
If you’ve followed Samuel’s music up to this point, you might notice something different immediately. His previous releases often carried a different level of softness to them; the kind of songs people sit with in quiet moments. Songs that understood sadness without needing to shout about it.
This time, the energy is different.
“24 Directions shows me with my guard down,” he explains. “I used to give people pretty sadness. This is honest frustration.”
It is perhaps the clearest description of the song.
Rather than dressing pain up in poetic language, Samuel allows himself to speak directly. The result is a sound that feels less like a diary entry and more like a declaration.
You can feel the raw anger in it.
Not bitterness. Not resentment.
Just the exhaustion that comes from knowing your worth and realizing you’ve spent too much time trying to convince someone else to see you for how you want to be seen.
The title itself feels fitting. “24 Directions” captures the feeling of being pulled in every possible direction by uncertainty, only to discover that the answer was never outside of you in the first place.
For Sammycleen, writing this song became an act of release.
“The second I wrote the first verse, I felt peace,” he recalls. “Real peace.”
That feeling stayed with him long after the song was finished. It also convinced him that the record belonged to more than just his own story.
“If it set me free, I can’t be the only one who needs it.” That belief sits at the heart of everything Samuel creates.
Long before introducing himself as an artist, he describes himself as a storyteller. Someone who pays attention. Someone who notices people, emotions and the quiet moments most of us move past too quickly.
His music reflects that perspective.
Rooted in faith, family and a deep belief in human connection, Samuel is less interested in creating disposable moments than documenting real ones. The messy parts. The healing parts. The parts people often struggle to put into words themselves.
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“I don’t want to just drop songs,” he says. “I want to document life.” That commitment to impact has already shown up in meaningful ways throughout his journey.
Over the past two years, Samuel was commissioned to write theme songs for Miss Teen Nigeria and Miss Teen Universe South Africa, opportunities that allowed his music to become part of something bigger than entertainment.
For him, watching young women use their platforms to serve their communities while walking confidently to words he had written was one of the most rewarding experiences of his career.
“They’re not just competing,” he says. “They’re leading, volunteering and changing their communities.”
This reinforced something he already believed about music: its value isn’t measured solely by numbers. The same philosophy shapes how he thinks about 24 Directions.
Ask Samuel what success looks like one year from now and his answer has nothing to do with charts, playlists or streaming milestones.
Instead, he talks about messages. Messages from people who finally left the relationship that was draining them. Messages from people who walked into a job interview with a little more confidence.
Messages from listeners who stopped waiting for someone else to choose them and decided to choose themselves instead.
That, to him, is what lasts.
The truth is that 24 Directions arrives at a time when many people are wrestling with exactly those questions. In a culture that often teaches us to chase validation, the song offers a different perspective.
You do not have to earn your place in someone’s life.
You do not have to remain stuck in uncertainty.
And you do not have to shrink yourself to make someone else’s confusion comfortable.
For Samuel Johnson, those lessons were hard won. But on 24 Directions, they become something else entirely.
A release.
A reminder.
And perhaps most importantly, an invitation.
Because beneath the frustration, beneath the heartbreak and beneath the personal story that inspired it, the song leaves listeners with a simple but powerful realization:
You were never the detour. You were always the destination.
PS: 24 Directions drops on 26th June. Here’s the pre-release link for your view: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/sammycleen1/24-directions-2/
About The Author
This article was written by Victor Winners based on an interview with Sammycleen
