GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Her music places an emphasis firmly on the positives in life, and Sydney artist Sampa the Great is spreading the love on her latest tour, as Kane Young reports

MANY of Sydney-based rising star Sampa the Great’s thought-provoking, socially conscious songs contain inspiring, empowering messages about believing in yourself, trusting your intuition, and taking pride in your work.

She’s certainly setting a good example for young listeners to follow.

But does Sampa actually see herself as a role model?

“Oh not at all!” she laughed.

“Not at all. I’m just trying to be a good example to myself. If that radiates with anyone, and they see me as a good example for themselves, then that’s fine.

“But being a role model is not the goal. I’m just trying to be the best Sampa I can be.”

And that’s working out pretty well so far for Sampa, who was born in Zambia before her family moved to Botswana when she was two years old.

After high school she moved to California to study art, music and visual media. But when her sister left the US for Australia in 2013, Sampa wasn’t far behind.

Her music career exploded in September 2015 with the release of The

Great Mixtape, which received significant radio play both in Australia and overseas. The Great Mixtape featured her breakthrough track Blue Boss, which was played one million times on Spotify in just two months, and the subsequent single FEMALE.

Before long Sampa was being invited to support the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote and Fat Freddy’s Drop, and appear at festivals including Golden Plains, Laneway, WOMAD and VIVID Live. “I did want The Great

Mixtape to make an impact, so we recorded it and put it out in a way that would make an impact,” Sampa explained.

“But I’m continually shocked at the reach [it has had] — going to London to do some shows, it was amazing to hear people in the crowd singing back the songs. It shows how global music is.

“If you know something will be good and you do it to the best of your ability, something will come out of it. But also I’m surprised at how big it came out and the number of things that came out of it.”

Sampa is currently working on recording new material, which she plans to release before the end of the year. It follows on from her recently released EP

HERoes Act 2, which sees Sampa collaborate with Grammy-winning British singer Estelle on all three tracks, including latest single Everybody’s Hero.

“I’m a very big fan of Estelle, I love her music,” she said.

“I’m part of the Red Bull Sound Select program, which helps up-andcoming artists collaborate with established artists.

“They put together a meeting initially with Mos Def, but he had problems with documentation and so on, so Estelle ended up filling in for him — which was even better for me.

“We met in Paris and continued working on songs together with [US producer] Rahki, who produces with Kendrick, so it was a really good meeting of the minds.

“It was extremely intimidating at first, but because of how open and humble they are, for people who’ve done what they’ve done, it made me comfortable enough to share my opinions of the music with them. It was a really good experience.”

Sampa is performing two of the three HERoes Act 2 tracks live as she travels the country on a co-headlining tour with Melbourne hiphop duo REMI: rapper Remi Kolawole and producer Sensible J.

REMI have taken Sampa under their collective wing, helping her navigate her way through the music industry. They also teamed

up on the soulful single For Good, which was a radio hit early last year, and most recently on Sensible J’s debut single Fire Sign.

“They’re definitely family,” Sampa said, talking to Pulse from Sensible J’s house in Melbourne.

“I think our first encounter was just them saying to me ‘This can be overwhelming, we’re here if you need someone to talk to about anything’. That took me aback — these were people I didn’t know, who didn’t want anything in return. “I guess since then, because of the experiences we’ve had with each other, we’ve sort of grown into a family. They definitely play a major role in my life today.” The trio have been on the road together for the past three weeks, with only the Hobart and Darwin shows now remaining on the tour. “I’m a bit exhausted, but it has been amazing, a really good experience — there’s been very hyped crowds, who understand what the tour is about,” Sampa said. “There’s a huge community out there that doesn’t feel as much love as everyone feels. This tour is about having empathy towards that, spreading the love and providing a space where everybody can feel that.” REMI, Sampa the Great and Akouo play at Hobart’s Waratah Hotel from 8pm on Saturday. Tickets are $34.70, go to www.oztix.com.au for bookings.