Newly-single Jay-R has new single; Sam’s latest

SAM CONCEPCION: “I am reinventing myself. I hope to show people that I have matured as a person and as an artist.”

Sam Concepcion, who started doing theater and appearing in commercials and TV programs at 8, knows that people still see him as the spunky 12-year-old who danced to and sang songs by Gary V. and Michael Jackson in the ABS-CBN 2005 talent search, “Little Big Star.”

Now 20, Sam has come a long way from that stage. He has certainly muscled up, for one, and was proud to show off his form at the recent launch of his latest album, “Infinite” (Universal Records). He performed the carrier single, “No Limitations,” an electronic dance tune with an urban vibe. “I’m reinventing myself,” Sam told the Inquirer. “My music, style and everything I do reflect who I am now.”

For “Infinite,” Sam said he was lucky to work with topnotch artists Billy Crawford, Jay-R, Kris Lawrence, Q-York, Dello, Marc Davis, and Christian Bautista. “I love doing collaborations,” Sam said, adding that the album sounds “current.”

Other standouts in the 10-track album are “Mahal na Mahal Kita,” “’Di Ka Nag-iisa,” “Rescue You” and “I’m the One.”

Asked if he thought he had come into his own as an artist, Sam replied, “Not yet… but I’m getting there.”

New single

For R&B recording artist Jay-R, being unattached means more focus, both as a performer and a producer. “I feel free and alive,” he told the Inquirer and a few other writers at the recent launch of his new single, “Tonight.”

JAY-R: “You need love, inspiration, but there has to be balance between career and personal life.”

“I can do what I really want. When you’re in a relationship, you may have to consult your partner,” Jay-R said. “You need love, inspiration, but there should be balance between work and personal life.”

“Tonight” features new singer Mica Javier, one of seven talents under Jay-R’s own record label, Homeworkz, which also manages the careers of Salbakuta, Chelo Astrid, Yassi Pressman, Kley, Leana and Amber Davis.

Mica, niece of former Apo Hiking Society member Danny Javier, is also an artist of the New York-based management company, Timbaland Productions. Her song “Light Years” was used in an episode of the musical TV series “Glee” in 2011. “Mica and I make a good tandem, “Jay-R said, “because we learn from each other.”