The pandemic brought Sampa the Great home to Africa — and inspiration

Sampa Tembo was born in 1993 in Zambia and grew up in Botswana. She studied music in San Francisco and Los Angeles before moving to Sydney in 2013, where she quickly began to make a name for herself as a musician under the moniker Sampa the Great.

Over the last five years she's become one of the most innovative and sought-after new talents in the hip-hop world, winning two Australian Music Prizes, performing around the world, including at the Glastonbury Festival and as a support act for Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat and Joey BadA$$.

Her debut album, The Return, was released in 2019 by the legendary Ninja Tunes label and drew popular and critical acclaim for its mix of musical influences and styles and its considered focus on notions of home and belonging in the globalised, digital era.

Its breakout single, with its accompanying music video shot in Zambia and featuring traditional Nyau dancers in their distinctive costumes, became a signature track on radio and music television in 2019.

With Covid-19 putting things on hold for Tembo, including a scheduled Coachella performance last year, she's set to make a virtual appearance at this year's virtual Bassline Africa Day "I am Home" Festival.

Speaking from Zambia, where she's been living for most of the past 18 months — splitting time between there and Botswana — Tembo recalls that as the pandemic was beginning to shut down travel and performances in 2020, shows were being cancelled east to west.

"I had a whole tour planned, we had Coachella and everything and Covid was like, 'Yeah? Cool. No!' That changed everything and things got realistic really fast. It put me in a position where I was like, let me go back home, first and foremost, to check on my family because obviously there's a global pandemic and it's affecting everyone, but also to recalibrate. My life was shifting, my job was changing — musicians have been hit really hard."

She's used the time to reconnect with the land of her birth and discover new sounds and influences that she's taking into the studio for the recording of a new album. She says there are influences she wouldn't have come across if she hadn't come back to Zambia.

"One of them was Zamrock and meeting Witch. I'm interested in that sound not only because it's rock but it's rock done in Zambia. It's not like I haven't come across rock in Australia or even done performances with rock artists but I think when it's done by someone who looks like you, it's like, 'Oh, we can do that?' It's seeped its way into the music."

She also feels that the experience of being at home during the Covid-19 moment has influenced the concerns of her new material.

"Certain topics have changed — the longing and the searching to belong somewhere has been filled by my being here so it's not going to be The Return Part Two. It's the next step on, after you've found a place where you feel home," she says.

She acknowledges that the suspension of live performance has left many artists in a situation where they're missing out on that interaction and connection with other human beings who resonate with their music, but she's embraced the virtual performance form and the opportunities it offers to interact with musicians to perform "as if we were playing live in front of people and touching on topics about where we are in life, hoping that what we're presenting resonates with people without actually seeing their reactions".

"Human elements are definitely removed and that affects a lot of aspects of the performance, but it's like a little snapshot or diary or music video where you get to present a work to people. I'm someone who loves the visual world so it's not all bad but you definitely lose that human connection."

The pandemic has also allowed her to think differently about ideas of home and where she'll be based in future as well as providing a moment of "panic and emergency where we get to see how we treat each other as human beings".

She says that "2019 was a gruelling touring year and there were certain occasions where I missed out on being with family. I've been with them for a year now and that's brought us much closer. Music is the inspiration and the driving force but it's not the only thing. It's the way I express myself and it's my career but it's important to be with family and to be in a place where I'm loved."

As for the new material, she hopes to have it done by the end of the year and says she's working hard as we speak. "I'm also a fan of putting things out when they're really polished and ready," she says.

"I was that student whose work you couldn't see because I'd cover it with my hands. So when it's done I'll be ready to release it but I'm a person who wants my work to be properly finished because this is an important album, the majority of which was created here at home."

• Sampa the Great will perform as part of the Bassline 'I am Home' Festival, which will be broadcast on SABC2 on May 29 from 8pm - 11pm.