Following on from a huge year in which she won the inaugural Corner Award and took to festival stages across the country, Sampa has joined forces with Voice For Change – discussing her support network, culture and work ethic.
“I encountered this group of boys who said I couldn’t rap because I was female,” says Sampa. “I was like, ‘I can carry this as a musician. It’s not something I need to be embarrassed about.'”
Sampa was born in Zambia, before leaving to the US for university.
“I didn’t know how big the world was,” says Sampa. “I was introduced to a world I didn’t know about, and how that world described me.”
After following her sister to Australia, she studied audio engineering for two years while working on her debut mixtape. After finding success, her father was there to support her commitment to music.
“I didn’t tell my dad about it, because I didn’t know how he was going to react to the situation. The Great Mixtape took off, and I had to sit him down and explain the situation and how this is what I really want to do. He’s been really supportive from then onwards.
“Music I seem to do in my sleep. I seem to wake up and write a song in ten minutes for some reason.”
Check out for story in this week’s installment of Voice For Change.
