ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: THE BIG ISSUE, SEPTEMBER 2019
Sampa The Great. A name that already indicates confidence and flair.
For the Zambia-born, Botswana-raised emcee, poet and songwriter, her journey towards fulfilment and greatness has been an ongoing one. Calling Australia home since 2014, Sampa’s presence on the Australian music scene began with the release of The Great Mixtape in 2015; an introduction of a fresh and exciting voice out of Sydney that would change the hip-hop landscape in Australia indomitably.
Since relocating to Melbourne, Sampa has become a significant voice to be reckoned with in the thriving musical community that fuses hip-hop, funk, jazz and soul with ease. Her acclaimed mixtape, Birds and The Bee9, experimented sonically, while thematically, Sampa Tembo’s exploration of what, creatively, formed her own identity was laid bare on record.
As a live performer, Sampa The Great has become a favourite on the Australian scene while international love has also come her way. Supporting the likes of Lauryn Hill and Kendrick Lamar, while also growing her own headline presence impressively, Sampa’s talent has long been seen as a powder-keg ready to detonate.
She definitely feels the love, too. “I can’t wait for the touring that’s about to come because we’re playing all the songs, most of the songs on the album are going to be played live. Everyone can feel it, they can feel the difference. They can feel the growth. It’s something else. The whole band can feel it as well.”
With a massive run of Australian touring on the near horizon, including a stop at this year’s Lost Lands Festival, Sampa The Great is currently preparing to introduce fans and newcomers alike to the sounds of her new album, The Return. If the Australian Music Prize-winning Birds and The Bee9 was an introduction, The Return is a powerful, confident statement of intent.
“We were breaking down in the sessions,” Sampa remembers. “On that level, already I was like, ‘This is way different’. Not hella different to the other sessions, especially BB9, where you’re super vulnerable, you’re talking about issues that affect us, but this one was really the naked truth. It is what it was. Now we’re not scared to say anything; this is where we are.”
Dropping the first hints of the return in singles ‘Final Form’ and ‘OMG’, Sampa The Great unleashed a beast of musicality that proved to be an exciting smack to wake listeners up. A rallying sense of strength permeated both singles as well as the music videos, filmed on Sampa’s latest trip back to Africa. Re-engaging with her homeland in Zambia, bringing her music home for the first time, was a daunting experience.
“We were all excited, obviously.” she remembers. “We were preparing the venue and I meet one of Zambia’s finest rappers - Chef 187 - and we’re just talking about how he used to spend the first half of his career wishing he was doing what I’m doing and I spent the first half of my career wishing I was doing what he’s doing. There was that realisation. I could with all my mind, wish that my career started somewhere else, but there are many people wishing the opposite.”
Imposter syndrome, an emotional and mental struggle many can encounter, is something Sampa is open about experiencing. Even now, as her star is rising in Australia and international attention is turning her way, that desire for that connection and platform back home is something that has remained, even in a small way.”
“It’s still a thing.” she says. “There’s always going to be a sense of imposter syndrome. I experienced a small, minor sense of displacement whereas you know, some of my friends can’t go home to South Sudan. That made me explore what is ‘home’ to me and all these different answers came out in this album, with the conclusion that home is also yourself. The body. Your soul has made a place in this body which is your home. How do we live with that, how do we deal with that without the culture that we’re from? How do we deal with this one, first of all?”
“As much as I still feel imposter syndrome, I am learning things and Australia has provided a lot of opportunities and avenues that I can bring home and help people back home with.”
Navigating themes of self-satisfaction, fully embracing one’s identity and exploring a connection to a culture one finds themself not living in day in, day out, The Return is equal parts love letter to Sampa’s heritage as it is a touchstone of the artist she is today - an artist stood at the doorstep of global influences, being welcomed in with open arms.
“With The Return, it’s no longer a question of finding myself and who I was,” she says. “It was like, ‘This is me. I’ll show you where me came from and I’ll show you where me is going. This is solid. This is who I am, guys. Anything after this is just growth.’ It’s more assured. It’s more assured of who I am. It’s the journey as a whole.”