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Zambian born, Australia-based singer/song writer Sampa The Great has received rave reviews for her performance at the Splendour in the Grass, an Australian Festival held in the Byron Bay, New South Wales.
The festival, organised as a gathering to cater for Australia’s winter season, a period that had traditionally been associated with very few events of this nature, is considered as one of Australia’s largest winter music festivals.
The festival is reported to have succeeded in pulling off one memorable live music event out in Byron Bay.
“Providing a line-up of artistes representing some of the best touring musicians Australia has at the minute, not to mention some incredible international visitors, Splendour was more than just a playground for triple j legionnaire hat-wearing fans; it was a weekend where house music could exist alongside alt-country and bluegrass through the same afternoon, where an Icelandic post-rock trio could headline on a Sunday night and send the audience into the night to finish partying ,with one of the world’s biggest homegrown producers,” the AU Review, an independent online publication for new music, arts, food, reported.
The publication says while it was impossible to be at every stage for all artistes, there were some undeniable highlights at Splendour.
“Friday afternoon brought Sampa The Great to the Mix Up Tent for one of the most confidently delivered and sharply executed sets of the day. The Sydney-based vocalist and writer had the crowd involved and responding to each call out on cue, not to mention feeling some heavy grooves as she worked her way around those impressive rhymes we’ve been associating with Sampa over the past year,” it wrote.
“With a huge grin on her face and the sass to match, Sampa The Great’s position as one of the Australian hip hop scene’s most intriguing and exciting young artists moving forward has well and truly been solidified in 2016 – this festival set just went and proved it.”
It was not just the AU Review waxing lyrical about Sampa The Great’s performance at the festival, TheMusic.com, an integrated media network published by Street Press Australia Pty Ltd, equally did the same.
“As the nation begins to recover from another epic Splendour in the Grass, we thought it best to recap the standout bands and life-changing lessons the 2016 event delivered,” the publication writes.

Born in Zambia and raised in Botswana, Sampa Tembo found a love for hip-hop at an early age, carrying it with her as she travelled and studied. Her upbringing and life experience inform her lyrics, which cover political and societal imbalances in a meaningful way, tackling heavy themes with a light touch. It’s a quality that runs through her recent debut release The Great Mixtape, produced by fellow Sydney-sider Godriguez. Rather than using his work merely as a soapbox, Sampa delicately entwines her poetry through each beat, playfully switching styles to ensure it engages you on every level.
Like her many influences – both musical and political – Sampa hopes to inform and inspire, delivering her message in a way that is bold yet inclusive. “I’m great,” she proclaims, not as a boast but instead a rallying call. “You’re great. We’re great.”

In the vain of un-announced releases Sampa dropped 2 Soundcloud uploads ‘Blue Boss’ (Hitting #1 on Hype Machine and picked up by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1, Reaching 1 Million Spotify plays in 2 months) & ‘Black Dignity’ added to Triple J Rotation. Her collaboration with Urthboy & Okenyo spawned the single ‘Second Heartbeat’ in early 2016. In March her collaboration with REMI ‘For Good’ hit the Triple J airwaves.
Sampa has won over a wave of adoring fans having been chosen to support Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote, Ibeyi, Little Simz and Fat Freddy’s Drop along with her sold out headline shows and festival slots at Golden Plains, Sugar Mountain, WOMAD & VIVID Live.