Sam Halaby a.k.a. ABSOLUTE was born and raised in a Lebanese – Canadian family in Edmonton, Canada. Like most young Canadian boys, he dreamt of playing in the NHL. What started as a hockey dream fortunately turned into a music career.
Throughout his hockey career, road trips and hours of traveling on buses served as his creative pod for writing music. A talented soul passionate about music, he started writing songs when he was eleven years old and developed a boundless appetite for writing. After a car accident ended his highly touted hockey career, he moved on from his beloved sport and went into the family restaurant business. While bartending and managing, napkins and bills became ABSOLUTE’s lyrical canvas. For years, his dreams of being in the music industry gnawed at his soul. One night after closing his Uncle’s restaurant, everyone gone, he sat alone in a booth and contemplated his life and going after his dream. Coincidentally, he received a call from a good friend at that moment that echoed his feelings. He knew that was a sign. The next day he booked a local studio and time off work. In February 2010, he gathered his library of lyrics and went into the studio and poured his heart and soul into the microphone for first time.
In a mere seven days, ABSOLUTE managed to write and record 15 tracks. During his first studio sessions, ABSOLUTE contacted one of his favorite lyricists, multi-platinum and GRAMMY AWARD NOMINEE KURUPT for a potential collaboration. After a few emails, recognizing the serious talent of ABSOLUTE, KURUPT was down and got on the phone to discuss the direction of the track. The end result was a hypnotic beat matched with fierce back and forth lyrics titled “Truth Hurts. ABSOLUTE also reached out to GRAMMY AWARD WINNING, number one billboard chart artist BEENIE MAN to collaborate on one of his tracks. Appreciating ABSOLUTE’S talent, the multi-platinum artist was happy to join forces. This led to the creation of “She Got Da Credit”, a brilliant fusion of reggae and hip-hop, which is soon to be released. Both tracks are scheduled for release this year on ABSOLUTE’S mixtape, “FEATURES”.
ABSOLUTE moved to Vancouver, Canada to work side by side with GRAMMY AWARD WINNING producer CHIN INJETI (DR.DRE, DRAKE, PINK, EMINEM and 50 CENT). Creating some really innovative tracks combining their diverse backgrounds of music, they co-wrote and recorded 4 new tracks, with their most diverse track “A Little Bit Of” ready to be released on ABSOLUTE’S upcoming mixtape “FEATURES”. Tapping into his Middle Eastern roots, ABSOLUTE linked up with Hit Maker and MULTIPLE JUNO NOMINATED producer TROY SAMSON (SNOOP DOGG, KELLY ROWLAND, HEDLEY) and #1 HIT SONGWRITER AND INTERNATIONAL PLATINUM ARTIST, CRAIG SMART. The collaboration, “Party In Paradise” landed ABSOLUTE a worldwide distribution deal with UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP/ INGROOVES FONTANA. The song gained major spins on air spins and landed them on the USA top 100 DRT HIP HOP CHART AT #6. The official video made its debut on VEVO this summer and is currently gaining popularity at Canadian Radio.
With the success of ABSOLUTE’S first radio single, he teamed up with SOCAN SONG OF THE YEAR NOMINEE producer and MULTI-GOLD songwriter “OVI” (MASSARI/MIA MARTINA) to record his follow up release “THE WORLD IS MNE” featuring the vocals of talented singer AMANDA BLUSH. The single made big noise with radio across the country especially in ABSOLUTE’S hometown at TOP 40 station HOT 107 staying in full rotation all summer. Due to the popularity of the single at radio and online, ABSOLUTE teamed up with massive DJ duo PEEP THIS. The PEEP THIS remix was created and Australian powerhouse label BOMB SQUAD caught wind of the single and signed it as their next release.
With the success of their last single, ABSOLUTE and OVI released their latest work, “TURNIN’ UP.” European powerhouse record label CAT MUSIC has gotten on board with the release. Watch the official lyric video now.