Sampa The Great announces her favorite keyboard key, alongside her debut album The Return on Ninja Tune

Sampa The Great announces her favorite keyboard key, alongside her debut album The Return on Ninja Tune
Photo: Barun Chatterjee

Most of us grow as a result of genetic predisposition, but how rare it is to come across an artist who expresses humility in the face of bigger shoe sizes and therefore greater objective importance?!

Sampa The Great has demonstrated a likewise-admirable self-awareness since the release of her debut mixtape from 2015; and despite what you may impulsively judge from her chosen rap name (which she insists isn’t an ego thing), Sampa Tembo’s mindset is far from the erroneous belief that musical progress comes from a necessary degree of neglectful overconfidence. The Zambia-born artist committed to improving her craft in between the releases of her first and second mixtapes, and the effort is obvious to most listeners. Birds And The BEE9 was smooth as fuck in a variety of ways. Kendrick probably thinks so too.

Continuing on the growth front, Sampa The Great now has her debut album, The Return, coming out September 13 on Ninja Tune. The album itself is a symbol of personal progress, of course, but just as noteworthy is the emotional growth that Sampa experienced (and wanted to experience) by visiting home as an increasingly popular musician. She went home both in the literal sense and in the sense of someone who wanted to realize her true self. Those are her parents in the video for the track “OMG” below!! I suppose if uniqueness is the goal…

Pre-order the album here, and head here for a full list of upcoming Tour Dates-The-Great.


The Return tracklisting:

01. Mwana (feat. Mwanje Tembo, Theresa Mutale Tembo, Sunburnt Soul Choir)
02. Freedom
03. Wake Up (Interlude)
04. Time’s Up (feat. Krown)
05. Grass Is Greener
06. Dare To Fly (feat. Ecca Vandal)
07. Any Day (feat. Whosane)
08. OMG
09. Light It Up (Interlude)
10. Final Form
11. Heaven (feat. Whosane)
12. Diamond In The Ruff (feat. Thando, Krown)
13. Leading Us Home
14. Summer (feat. Steam Down)
15. Brand New (feat. SILENTJAY)
16. Give Love (Interlude)
17. The Return (feat. Thando, Jace XL, Alien, Whosane)
18. Don’t Give Up (feat. Mandarin Dreams)
19. Made Us Better (feat. Blue Lab Beats, Boadi, Lori)

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