Miami Rap Pioneer Gunned Down on Turnpike
P-Man Sam preceded 2 Live Crew
By CARLOS MILLER
Updated 5:03 PM EDT, Sun, Aug 16, 2009
He was known as P-Man Sam. And as Sam Silvasteen. And he was involved in Miami’s rap scene before 2 Live Crew put it on the map.
But the man born as Sam Ferguson will take that name to the grave after he was gunned down in his car Friday on the Florida Turnpike near Griffin Road.
Police have no motive and are searching for a black car with clear tail-light lenses, according to The Miami Herald.
The 47-year-old Miami native was recently involved with a New York-based urban lifestyle magazine called Don Diva. He was listed as president of Don Diva Miami on its website. His job was to market the magazine in South and Central Florida.
Over the years, he served time in jail for fighting with cops, became involved in several local record labels and was even friends with Miami City Commissioner Art Teele, who committed suicide in the lobby of the Miami Herald building in 2005.
His goal in life was to maximize the potential for Miami’s hip hop scene and he made a cameo in DJ Khaled’s video Born and Raised (below), which featured several Miami rappers including Luther Campbell, Pitbull, Rick Ross and Trick Daddy.
In the early 1980s, he was involved in the emerging bass scene that became Miami’s signature sound. Most of his friends from that era were killed over the years.
In latter years, he became business partners with Alexander Bernard Harris, CEO of the hip hop label Xela Entertainment, who was gunned down himself in Alonzo Mourning’s barbershop, Cutz, in 2003.
“In Miami, crime and the music business are in the same pot together,” he said during a 2007 interview with 305 Hip Hop.
“Music is just our way out. Drugs is gonna exist and if you leave anything dangling and don’t jump out with both feet, guys down here are gonna pull you back in.”
First Published: Aug 16, 2009 2:12 PM EDT
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