Have Nø Fear

written by HNF Onyx | Have Nø Fear

When Samara Cyn steps up to the mic, the world stops. Her soft & subtle delivery feels refreshing like the first sip of a McDonald’s Sprite— crisp and unexpected, cutting deeper than most rappers’ bars. 

Born in Murfreesboro, TN, Samara Cyn grew up in a military family between Georgia, Texas, and Colorado, before recently settling in Los Angeles as an adult.

I first caught Samara Cyn as the opener for Smino’s Kountry Kousins tour in Chicago last June. Her star power immediately transcended the stage, leaving the audience hooked on every word. Between her personality and her bars, I just had to learn more about her and her journey. 

With encouragement from her English teacher mother, Cyn joined Brave New Voices, a youth poetry competition, and carried spoken word through college. At Arizona State University, a fun freestyle session with friends turned serious when Cyn caught herself rapping her poetry over their beats — that was the moment she realized this was something she could truly excel at. 

There’s a patience to Cyn’s flow — she doesn’t need to chase the beat, she lets it orbit around her words. That presence must be why she’s already gaining accolades since writing her first song in 2019. This June, she joined the 2025 XXL Freshman Class, followed by South by Southwest’s Developing New Artist award and BET’s Amplified Artist of the Month.

Cyn’s voice is proof that power doesn’t always have to be loud — sometimes it’s the calm delivery that shakes the room the hardest.