Sampa The Great feat. Chef 187, Tio Nason + Mwanjé: Never Forget
Sampa The Great (aka Sampa Tembo) has announced her highly anticipated second full-length album, As Above, So Below, with the dramatic, powerful track “Never Forget” featuring Chef 187, Tio Nason and Mwanjé. The stirring song is a tribute to Zamrock—a genre combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues, funk and traditional Zambian music—with elements of Kalindula, contemporary hip-hop and more. The Zambian-born artist returned to her homeland during the pandemic and says that it influenced her new work. “This tribute was inspired by the band WITCH and their lead singer Mr Jagari Chanda, who has become one of my musical mentors. I discovered Zamrock later in my life and was surprised that this music was known globally, yet not fully celebrated and acknowledged in Zambia today. It hit home for me as I felt similarities in my own journey, having had my career take off outside my birth country. I thought it was fitting to pay homage to those who came before me and merge past, present and future through music and imagery; passing the baton from one generation to the next.” The video—by Rharha Nembard, Imraan Christian and Furmaan Ahmed—features archival footage of Zambian musician Paul Ngozi, Zambia’s first president Kenneth Kaunda and WITCH.
