Sampa the Great has really proved that you can be your dream.
She explained to me that when she named herself “the Great” at the start of her career, it wasn’t because she had a huge ego and was brimming with confidence. Quite the reverse, she says:
I’m very goal-orientated and it was like: ‘I may not be very confident now but I’m going to strive to be the greatest version of myself.
She has certainly achieved amazing things.
She’s the first Zambian to perform at the Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. She has opened for Kendrick Lamar and Lauryn Hill, her fans include the Obamas and Jada Pinkett-Smith, not to mention picking up awards and accolades along the way.
One of Sampa the Great’s proudest moments was when her song Never Forget was chosen as the soundtrack for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie trailer.
As some of her videos testify, she’s a great fan of sci-fi and the Afrofuturism aesthetic.
But somehow despite having reached heights of global fame that few other African artists have managed, there was still a chink in Sampa the Great’s confidence.
She launched herself while a student in Australia, and she needed to know that she could function as an artist and be popular at home in Zambia.
She also needed the world to know that she, and her music, were deeply rooted in Zambian culture.
I could see how easy it was for people to take away my culture from my story. I was being greeted as ‘this Australian artist’, and the music and art I was inspired by – someone else’s culture was given the credit for it.
I could see how easy it was for people to take away my culture from my story. I was being greeted as ‘this Australian artist’, and the music and art I was inspired by – someone else’s culture was given the credit for it.
I relocated to Zambia three years ago when the pandemic started, and I’ve used this time to create my latest project As Above So Below. I got to work with new people on music I’ve listened to ever since I was a kid, and just grow my knowledge and experience of being an artist at home.”
I relocated to Zambia three years ago when the pandemic started, and I’ve used this time to create my latest project As Above So Below. I got to work with new people on music I’ve listened to ever since I was a kid, and just grow my knowledge and experience of being an artist at home.”
Sampa the Great’s album As Above So Below was recorded in Zambia in an intense two-week period. It was produced by Zambians and featured Zambian artists, including her sister Mwanji and cousin Tio.
It turns out that Sampa’s uncle Jagari was a founding member of pioneering Zamrock band W.I.T.C.H. back in the day:
I really could have used that information when I started my career! It was quite a lonely road in the beginning – you know you’re a continent away and you’re like: ‘I don’t think my parents get what I’m trying to do’ and then you realise there was someone who pursued this before you and had the same passion and drive.
Zambians are conservative people so doing psychedelic rock and traditional Zambian music in the 70s, that’s like: ‘What is this!!’
So for my uncle to be able to do that and to encourage me to push myself and expand what I see as music and Zambian music has been like one of the biggest encouragements of my career. ”
