Sampa The Great Finds Her Place
On Friday Sampa Tembo, the rapper-singer-songwriter better known as Sampa The Great, will release her debut studio album, The Return — one of the year's most arresting statements of purpose. Tembo's previous two releases, The Great Mixtape and the critical hit Birds and the BEE9, were formidable early works, flowing effortlessly within intimate rap, spoken word and singing, in agile bursts amidst playful production. Now, after co-signs from Kendrick Lamar and childhood idol Lauryn Hill, Tembo has located her final form. (For now.)
Flowing between funk, soul, R&B, hip-hop and spoken word, traditional folk chants and singing, and including guest appearances from her mother and sister, The Return is a portal into the psyche of an African artist who has traveled the world in search of herself. The album emanates joy, shifting on its axis with each voicemail interlude, allowing the listener to delve deeper into the heritage it celebrates.
NPR Music spoke to Sampa The Great while she was in London, a few weeks after her performance at Glastonbury.
NPR Music: What was your childhood like? At what point were you aware of a creative leaning?
: I was born in Zambia, but I was raised in Botswana, which is the country
