Ayanis always knew she was destined to sing. Raised in Texas-Atlanta, 23year-old singer and dancer Samantha Ayanis Miller (pronounced Ayeyaun-is) is a dreamer. She sang in church choir and did youth beauty pageants but decided at a young age that she was going to be a professional entertainer. “Gospel music and the choir was my first real introduction to music,” she says. “When I turned nine, I told my family that I wanted to be a singer.” Despite their skepticism, she performed at school talent shows, had a brief stint in a girl group at 14 and put out YouTube covers, including Bruno Mars’ “Billionare” and Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe.” She laughs, looking back at those early videos. “Growth is real.”

She enrolled at Georgia State University and majored in PR and journalism. “I knew I wanted to be an artist but I chose that because I could learn how the media would be.” In 2013, a cover posted to Instagram piqued the interest of songwriter/producer Mello The Producer. “He was the person who taught me how to record and taught me how to really be an artist.” She found a kindred spirit in Mello and the two cut several demos. “We have a bond musically.” Mello was working with August A

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