Sam Smith Compares Their Own ‘Polarizing’ Nature as an Artist to a ‘Big F---ing Tub of Marmite’

“I’m a polarizing person. Some people hear me talk and sing and they’re like, ‘How lovely.’ And some people are like, ‘Get the f--- out of here,’” said Sam Smith in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.

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Sam Smith told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe their career has been shaped by personal transitions and public backlash over the years

Their upcoming album Hazel Eyes reflects a shift in musical genres and artistic growth since their 2014 debut

Smith credited Madonna for her support during controversy surrounding their 2022 hit “Unholy” with Kim Petras”

Sam Smith knows they might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

In a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter (who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns) spoke about their “polarizing” nature and how they’ve changed as an artist since debuting over a decade ago.

“My career isn’t like everyone else’s career. It’s very, very different,” said Smith, 34, noting that they’ve been with some of the same professional team members since the very beginning. “The transitions I’ve gone through in my body and myself, in my clothes, in my weight, in my everything, it’s come with a lot of backlash and a lot of kind of all of us needing to educate at the same time.”

The artist explained their new album, Hazel Eyes, represents a “transition” between the different genres they’ve explored over the years. “Now, if and when I return to maybe a more pop commercial sound, I come at it with different weapons now because of this music,” they said.

Smith also reflected on how they’ve developed as an artist since releasing their debut album, 2014’s In the Lonely Hour. “I look back at things and I study them a little bit, and I’m like, ‘I would’ve done that differently, and that was not maybe good enough.’ But I don’t whip myself about it,” they said. “I don’t torture myself anymore about it. I think at the beginning of [making Hazel Eyes], I started to do that. And now at the end of this record, I’ve realized that it’s all part of the color palette of me.”

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The “To Be Free” performer’s divisive nature may just be in their blood. “My mom always said to me when I grew up, my mom said, ‘The women in our family are like Marmite.’ She said, ‘People either love us or hate us,’” explained Smith. “And I have become a big f---ing tub of Marmite.”

“It’s just in my DNA,” added the star. “I’m a polarizing person. Some people hear me talk and sing and they’re like, ‘How lovely.’ And some people are like, ‘Get the f--- out of here.’”

Apple Music / The Zane Lowe Show

Luckily, Smith has supporters in the industry who have their back when people don’t understand or appreciate their art — like Madonna, who contacted them in the midst of controversy surrounding their 2022 hit “Unholy” with Kim Petras.

“[Madonna], the minute it happened, she made sure she got through to me. She’s so aware of queer news and what’s happening in the community to the artists within the community. And you feel that in her music,” said Smith. “I feel like her music is a lifeline to queer people, and just all of the eras of her and her stamina and how she’s just always carried on and on and on. I just find it very inspiring. And I think a lot of queer people find it inspiring.”

Hazel Eyes comes out on Friday, Aug. 21.

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