What a week it’s been for Sam V.
The Aotearoa R&B star was a big winner at the 2026 Pacific Music Awards, winning three awards at Manukau’s Due Drop Events Centre on Wednesday night (August 12th). Sam V had previously led the nominations — alongside A.R.T — with five nods.
He’s followed that up with “Trade Favor”, an excellent collaboration with producer and artist choicevaughan.
Co-produced by Grammy winner Astro (Chris Brown), the sultry alt-R&B song is the lead single from Sam V and choicevaughan’s joint album Vice & Virtue.
According to a press release, the forthcoming record is “a cohesive, deeply atmospheric exploration of modern romantic relationships, navigating the line between emotional purity and real-world fiction.”
As the title suggests, the pair explore the tension between “vice” — jealousy, possessiveness, and late-night impulses — and “virtue” — devotion, vulnerability, and radical honest — on the album.
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His Sam V link-up just the latest major collab for choicevaughan.
The producer joined forces with Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland-based rapper Diggy Dupé last year for the joint Brown Velvet EP, which arrived just in time for Kiwi summer.
They were rewarded for their collective effort with an Aotearoa Music Award nomination for Best Hip Hop Artist. They narrowly lost out to MOKOMOKAI in the category in May.
Choicevaughan is also features in fledgling Auckland hip-hop group Yonder alongside rappers Brandn Shiraz and Chase Woods. The trio were recently hand-picked by legendary producer 9th Wonder for his US label, Jamla Records. Their debut single, “Hold Tight”, dropped earlier this year.
Sam V, meanwhile, dropped the wonderful titled Take a Chance on V — and its deluxe version — last year, a proper old-school R&B collection, which followed a busy year of touring on both sides of the Tasman.
We caught up with the R&B crooner before this week’s Pacific Music Awards.
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“The PMAs have taught me that I can strive for greatness and be recognised for it. I’ll always be grateful to be part of its history,” he told us.
Of Vice & Virtue, he said, “It’s done, we just gotta roll it out yurrrr, excited for y’all to hear.”
Choicevaughan and Sam V’s “Trade Favor” is out now.
