semmi Debuts. Finally.
semmi’s debut single “armageddon” is a year in the making and a pop punk masterpiece.
The single art for "armageddon"
semmi, the 26 year-old singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, debuted with his supersonic, pop punk single “armageddon” this week. It’s a track that’s been nearly a year in the making and showcases what a stellar pop star semmi has the potential to become. Within two days, the single racked up over 1,000 streams – with zero playlisting, label support or previous singles to provide a push.
I first interviewed and met semmi last July, nearly two years into him making music full-time. It was his first interview ever, but I was struck by his honesty. semmi had lived multiple lives by the time I met him, but he used those experiences to fuel his music. “I’m the type of person to avoid something that’s scary,” he told me. “I’ve done piano classes for a couple of months. I’ve played guitar and violin, but I’d never been on the mic.”
“My music has so many raw emotions,” he said, explaining that sometimes looking back at previous songs can feel “cringy”. But “I feel like I’ve grown as a person writing this darker music.”
Over time, we developed a close friendship that came from our love of music. semmi and I often exchange, sometimes daily, music that inspires us. But at the end of last year, semmi began sending me demos he’d been working on in his bedroom. The singer has enough music to release three albums, and “armageddon” was one of the clear frontrunners to be a single when he first recorded it in December 2023. It’s cliched to say that I knew the song was a hit the moment I heard it, but there was something in semmi’s delivery, the absolute massive pop voice he has, the swagger he possesses in his music, that made me think he had the potential to blow up.
Over the next few months, I sat in on mixing sessions with semmi and another good friend of mine, his sound engineer Justin Kao, as the pair worked to elevate semmi’s demo. semmi was meticulous about the vibe he wanted “armageddon” to have, from the slow fade entrance that resembles the sound of turning up your radio to the ragged growl of semmi’s voice when he sings, “Let’s talk about the things that we can’t undo and run away, run away from the truth.” semmi had hands-on input to every detail of the song.
semmi wrote the track himself and recorded it in the vein of pop punk giants like XXXTENTACION and MKG. His shocking, brutally honest songwriting gives the track an urgency that recalls these legends as he spins out of control. “Can’t feel my face/ 100 on the dash/ Can’t stay in my lane,” he half-sings,half-raps on the second verse. “Grew up right here but I hate LA – ‘cause of you.”
semmi delivers all of this with ferocious energy. He’s self-aware that the relationship’s toxicity is only bringing himself more trauma. But if there’s one thing semmi is exceedingly good at is examining and eviscerating his pain through his music.
The singer has learned how to channel all of this into a masterclass of chaos. It’s a bold, wild main course for success and semmi is gambling that it will take him to new heights.
“Some dudes are hungry for success,” he told me a few weeks ago. “But bro I’m fucking starving.”
