Sampa The Great - Never Forget feat. Chef 187, Tio Nason & Mwanjé [Video]

Photography by Constantine Spence

Zambian-born, Botswana-raised poet and rapper Sampa The Great has announced the impending arrival of her sophomore full-length album, ‘As Above, So Below’, out worldwide on September 9 via Loma Vista. Along with the announcement arrives Sampa’s vibrant new single and captivating music video, ‘Never Forget’ featuring Chef 187, Tio Nason and Mwanjé.

Sampa lays out how the new single came to fruition: ”Never Forget is an ode to Zamrock music, a genre born in the 70’s combining traditional Zambian music and psychedelic rock. In particular, the song focuses on kalindula music. 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 archival footage in the clip includes the late great Paul Ngozi, the late president Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia’s first president) and the legendary WITCH.”

Director Furmaan Ahmed delves into the video process: ”Creating this work was an incredibly cathartic experience as it was a nod to the iconoclasm of our shared cultures, heritage and bloodlines that have been erased over time. At its heart, Never Forget is an homage to the strength, resilience and magic of the diaspora, the veneration of time and in particular Sampa’s Zambian heritage. Set inside a world birthing itself from a dark ancestral monument, we invoke the past to imagine new futures. Never Forget is a ritualistic unearthing and a celebration of our heritages and the power of music in liberation.”

Watch the video for ‘Never Forget’ below: