(April 6, 2026) Miles Caton’s husky and mature voice sounds so bluesy in the role of the singer Sammie in the Academy Award winning film Sinners that he just must be from around Clarksdale, Miss. way. The baby-faced singer earned a Best Song nomination – one of the 16 nominations the film received – for the song “I Lied to You.”
Caton is a native New Yorker – born in the borough of Brooklyn on March 3, 2005, meaning the blues singer who woke the spirits up when he sings and strums on his guitar in Smoke and Stack’s juke joint wasn’t old enough to drink when he was filming “Sinners.”
Still, as we heard in “Sinners” and on his new song “Don’t Hate Me,” which is featured in this First Listen, Caton has been a refined and experienced singer for much of his life. He comes from a musical family where each member either sings or plays an instrument. His mother and aunt are lifelong gospel singers. Caton’s first public performance occurred when he was two years old.
Industry insiders have known about Caton for years as he’s been creating buzz with covers of Nina Simone songs and performing as a contestant on TV talent shows for the better part of a decade. Caton toured with H.E.R and released a couple highly regarded singles, so what we saw in “Sinners” was an artist stepping into a moment he spent a lifetime preparing for.
“Don’t Hate Me” shows another side of this immensely talented artist. The song finds Caton stepping into the world of angst filed power ballads, and he fills the space nicely. “Don’t Hate Me” is a song about a man who know that a relationship is approaching the end and he trying to avoid the end of the road while acknowledging that she has good reasons for leaving.
“Don’t Hate Me” is a heart wide open power ballad and Caton occupies it fully. Check it out here.
By Howard Dukes
