Samuel Flans, mostly known as Innocent Muziq, was born in Cala, Eastern Cape, Kuzingquthu, in 1996. He moved to Venterstad in 2004 and relocated to Cape Town in 2009 in pursuit of a better life, where he was introduced to rap. He kickstarted his music career in 2011 while still in high school (Grade 8), inspired by various groups and solo artists from Cape Town such as Back Yard Crew, Naked Myndz Crew, Uzwikantu, Pluntez Crew and Driemanskaap. The one person who made him vehemently follow his career and sharpen his rapping skill is Pzho, a local producer and rapper (Nun Stop Records). In 2011 Innocent Muziq formed the group Cash Makerz Crew together with McPower but Innocent’s sense of ambition inevitably led him to embark on a solo journey. In 2013 he started collaborating with local artists and producers such as D-Eyzho, SnoopCat, Mc B-Wise, Mze’t Beats, Marine Soldiers, Beeza, Gugx KND. In 2015 he was recruited by producer Scratch (Nkululeko Yengo) and joined the Light Spot Entertainment crew. Innocent soon proved himself an asset an under LSE and subsequently released the 5 track EP, All About Music.
In 2017 Innocent began his collaboration with Eh!woza, the first output being the production of one of the featured songs from the EP, Single Parent. Samuel has been working with Eh!woza since this initial project – first as a musician collaborator on Eh!woza’s MSF/Musos/DR-TB project, and then becoming a lead facilitator of Eh!woza’s workshops. Samuel is currently being trained in all aspects of Eh!woza’s creative processes and recently begun to produce independent content and material, including documentaries about the impact COVID-19 and its containment measures, spread and social determinants on people in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. These have been broadcast nationally in collaboration with Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism and News24. His most recent music video release, Togetherness, was well received by fans and highlights his artistic agility.
Sam is an entertainer, a free spirit that has several ways of expressing himself. Innocent respects his craft, respects the person on the listening end, and also perceives himself to be the vessel of many voices in the stories he portrays. He is inspired by the likes of Kwesta, Duncan Skuva & S’java.