The Re-Introduction of Sampa the Great – “As Above, So Below”

I don’t think I have ever waited for a body of work as much I did for this one. The three singles that were released from this body of work earlier on namely, ‘Lane’, ‘Never Forget’ and ‘Bona’ made the waiting process even harder. As mentioned in almost all the articles I have written about Sampa the Great, she is very articulate about her craft and the portrayal of her Zambian culture. This body of work titled As Above, So Below which is Sampa’s Sophomore album is a re-introduction of Sampa the Great who is more in touch with her roots, culture and heritage with a full project made in Zambia to match.

The opening song is titled ‘Shadows’, which is my new favourite from the album, it opens up with a captivating sound of a traditional instrument which I believe is a Zambian instrument called ‘Mbira’ which was followed by the tambourine. Everything Sampa the Great touches becomes pure gold. The song has a variety of other instruments and sounds which include; a bass beat, a saxophone and another traditional instrument a flute, the Fulani.

The other stand-out songs for me are ‘Imposter Syndrome’ which features James Sakala – a beautiful marriage of raps and traditional vocals. The other one is ‘Tilibobo’ which is the most fun, well because of the unmissable sounds of Amapiano. Mwanje bagged two features from this album and the second one is ‘Lo Rain’ which is a combination of harmonies, a beautiful melody and more of Sampa’s poetic raps. If you haven’t listened to this beautifully curated album with an Angelique Kidjoe feature then you are missing out, but here are the links to the album:

Mukondeleli

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