Sampa Tembo, known professionally as Sampa the Great, is a Zambian songwriter and rapper raised in Botswana, currently based in Australia.
Early life
Sampa Tembo was born in 1993 in Zambia and raised in Botswana. She was based in Sydney from 2014 to 2018, originally coming to Australia to pursue a degree in audio production at the SAE Institute. As of 2018, she is based in Melbourne. Before going to Australia, she had previously studied in San Francisco for two years and Los Angeles for a year.
Music career
2015–2016: Early years
On 24 September 2015, Sampa the Great was featured on the single "Beauty" by future soul singer-songwriter Wallace. Her debut mixtape, The Great Mixtape, was released as a free download on 16 October, and was eventually released on CD and vinyl by Melbourne label Wondercore Island. Tembo described the mixtape as "a search for creativity, laughter, purpose and rhythms", and credits her African youth for inspiring the "political consciousness" on the record. The mixtape was produced by Sydney producer Dave Rodriguez, who performs under the name Godriguez. Tembo and Rodriguez met at a jazz and hip-hop freestyle in Sydney. Tembo's vocals for the mixtape were recorded in just two takes. On 18 December, the mixtape track "F E M A L E" was released as a single. On 19 January 2016, Sampa released a standalone single "Black Dignity". Two days later, another standalone single "Blue Boss" was released. On 4 March, Sampa featured on Urthboy's album The Past Beats Inside Me Like a Second Heartbeaton the track "Second Heartbeat" alongside OKENYO. Another two standalones followed, "24" and "Blessings" released together on 25 May. On 6 October, Sampa released a music video entitled "HERoes ". On 27 October, a followup music video for "HERoes " was released.
2017–2018: ''HERoes Act 2'' and ''Birds and the BEE9''
On 28 April 2017, Sampa the Great released the single "Everybody's Hero" featuring British singer Estelle. Tembo's debut EP, HERoes Act 2 was the released on 12 May. In an interview, she called it "a snapshot of a time of uncertainty and doubt, and the realisation that those aspects are very normal". On the EP, Tembo collaborated with producer Rahki. The second and third singles from the EP, "The Plug" and "Paved with Gold" again featuring Estelle, were released on 11 May. On 10 November, Tembo released the mixtape Birds and the BEE9, a record that "crosses hip-hop, soul, jazz, gospel and reggae", on the Big Dada label. It was produced by Sensible J, Silentjay and Kwesi Darko. The track "Casper" contained guest vocals from Syreneyiscreamy, the track "Inner Voice" contained guest vocals from Mwanje Tembo, and the track "Healer" contained guest vocals from Zaachariaha. The record won the Australian Music Prize in March 2018. Birds and the BEE9 received positive reviews. The Guardian noted influences from Lauryn Hill. On 3 October, the single "Rhymes to the East" was released. On 17 October, the single "Bye River" was released. On 20 October, she featured on the track "Your Orbit" by Ecca Vandal, on her eponymous debut albumEcca Vandal. On 5 April 2018, a music video was released for the track "Black Girl Magik" featuring Nicole Gumbe. On 23 April, Sampa was featured in the music video for "Your Orbit" by Ecca Vandal.
2018–present: ''The Return''
On 29 November, Sampa released her single "Energy" featuring Nadeem Din-Gabisi alongside an accompanying music video. Tembo was due to release her debut studio album later that year; however, it was delayed. On 5 June 2019, she released another single "Final Form" alongside an accompanying music video. Her debut album The Return was released on 13 September 2019. In October 2019, she came at no.2 on 's list of "The 15 Australian female artistschanging the game right now". At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, Sampa the Great was nominated for two awards: Best Video and Best Hip Hop Release for "Final Form". In March 2020, Sampa the Great won the Australian Music Prize for The Return; becoming the first musician in its 15-year history to win the award twice.
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual award ceremony event celebrating the Australian music industry. Sampa the Great won Best Hip Hop Release at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, from two nominations.
