“Birds And The BEE9” followed a mixtape and series of EPs and singles. Released 10th November 2017 which have attracted a lot of support in Australia. Sampa is also an award winning musician, for the best Australian album of 2017.
Sampa The Great was Born in Zambia and raised in Botswana. Her humble upbringing bears an influence on her music. The shock of losing a close friend which prompted her to take the leap to try to become an artist. She sings a defiant choruses – in harmony with an earworm inmost of her songs.
Download: Sampa The Great – Healing
The connections were made, Moving to Australia four years ago. This propelled her to where she now stands. Living in Sydney when she first arrived.
Taking in influences from disparate different corners, it’s an attitude that reflects her worldly perspective. Having lived in both Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, she’s also spent time studying in both San Francisco and LA.
Download: Sampa The Great Ft Remi – Flowers
Going to the city’s weekly Jazz Hip-Hop Freestyle sessions for the first time, she went onstage to join the band and continued to go there each week, building up a network of likeminded music heads. Sampa The Great’s “Birds And The BEE9” is a record that’s both deeply personal and outward-looking
Download: Sampa The Great – Rhymes To The East
The tape’s points of reference are poised between her closely-held roots and an internationally-minded musical outlook. An assured picture of herself, she carries her identity through the many-sided musical influences which she draws from.
Download: Sampa The Great – Can I Get a Key
In ‘Can I Get A Key’, for instance, she shines as both a singer and MC while bemoaning the gatekeepers who maintain the rarefied, exclusive nature of the art world. This is an excellent song, before diving into ridiculous, tongue-twisting lyricism set down with her customary offhand delivery.
Download: Sampa The Great – Casper Ft Syreneyiscreamy
As such, it’s no surprise to hear the mixture of sounds that filter through the record. Be it the undercurrents of gospel and neo-soul which accompany reflections on her identity in ‘Bye River’, or the spiritually-minded chants and claps of ‘Healing’, it’s an album that makes those sorts of connections seem effortless.
Download: Sampa The Great – Bye River
She linked up with Godriguez again for the ‘Blue Boss’ single, followed by 2016’s “Heroes Act 2” which she worked on with Estelle and Rahki as part of a project with Red Bull Sound Select.
Download: Sampa The Great – Inner Voice (feat. Mwanje Tembo)
Expanding the scope of her collaborators for this release also meant honing her idea of what she wants to create. “I’ve only been doing this for two years professionally,” she says.
Download: Sampa The Great – The Truth
“It was important for me as things continued to grow to take a little time to step back from everything and say, ‘This is what I want to do with my music.’ Music is the way I express myself, the way I reflect on life, reflect on the things that I’ve experienced.”
Just premiered the video for ‘Black Girl Magik’, were she reflects on the contribution and strength of black women, often unappreciated and overlooked, the track serves as a celebration of black womanhood. Download VIDEO: Sampa The Great ft Nicole Gumbe – Black Girl Magik
Different producers have helped her realize her vision for ‘BBEE9′. Kwes Darko who’s put out LPs for Black Acre and R&S. And Justin Smith (aka Sensible J).
Preview Below- “Birds And The Bee9”.
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[advanced_iframe src=”https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3259414320/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/” seamless><a href=”http://sampathegreat.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-mixtape”>The Great Mixtape by Sampa The Great</a> width=”100%” height=”200″]For More! Visit Sampa The Great
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