As Above So Below
After a long stint living in Australia, Zambian rapper Sampa Tembo returned to the country of her birth to make her second studio album. A swaggering celebration of self-love and cultural identity, *As Above So Below* sees Tembo incorporate traditional Zambian music as well as cutting-edge hip-hop and subtler stylistic cues from psych, blues, and folk. “It has the traditional spiritual elements,” Tembo tells Apple Music, “but then we are venturing off into worlds that are not considered Zambian music and we are creating a new genre, which is really exciting for me.” Setting out to smash preconceptions about African women, Tembo scoffs at the idea of staying in her lane on the Denzel Curry-featuring “Lane” and enlists trailblazing Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo to further lift the self-affirming finale “Let Me Be Great.” Tembo’s younger sister Mwanje also sings on two tracks, while Joey Bada\$$ adds his own spin to the theme of hiding one’s true self on the slinking, bass-blasted “Mask On.” *As Above So Below* even showcases some of Zambia’s native languages, reinforcing the central concept of embracing home. “There’s a vibration in language,” says Tembo. “That\'s why I’m very adamant of adding my language to the situation. You can’t change it. You can’t change it and you can’t fake it.”
The rapper continues to explore identity and belonging on her second album. Recorded in her native Zambia, it folds together zamrock, polyrhythmic percussion, and choral harmonies.
A bravura offering from Sampa The Great, As Above, So Below is an opulent, at times abrasive, tapestry of of South African house, 2000s neo-soul and Western hip-hop
After making her mark on Australian hip-hop, Sampa the Great turns her gaze to her home of Zambia, unleashing a compelling second record
Sounds from Zamrock and kalindula woven seamlessly alongside those of contemporary Western hip hop and soul.
After The Return became Sampa the Great's second release to win the Australian Music Prize, she was set to embark on a major international tour when the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily put a stop to live events throughout the world.
Sampa the Great returns with As Above, So Below, and it is a force, with Sampa's ability to play hard and soft the driving core of the album.
After making a splash with her 2019 debut album The Return, Zambian-born and Botswana-raised rapper Sampa The Great has faced the sophomore...
“I’d never fully claimed myself to be Zambian,” says Sampa The Great, an artist whose work has always focussed on identity, womanhood and growth.
Bold production, rich harmonies and equable beats; Sampa the Great curates a more intimate-feeling sonic experience on new album ‘As Above, So Below’. The
Sampa The Great has crafted a Sasha Fierce-like persona for her new album – and it's made her music feel more alive than ever
On Sampa the Great's 'As Above, So Below', she makes music with incredible clarity of purpose and affirms a sense of interconnected self and heritage.
Sampa Tembo is no longer answering to Australia’s music industry, delivering a cohesive second album that oozes with confidence, empowerment and joy
In new music this week, there’s everything from heavy-metal luminaries to new stars drawing on Sudanese and Zambian traditions