{"id":2192871,"date":"2025-12-09T22:23:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2192871"},"modified":"2025-12-09T22:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:23:44","slug":"the-great-returns-with-cant-hold-us-nu-zamrock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-great-returns-with-cant-hold-us-nu-zamrock\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Returns With &#8216;Can\u2019t Hold Us&#8217; &#038; Nu Zamrock"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-element-guid=\"0f3b72de-7298-4254-8a9e-d4bb524841fc\">\n<p><span data-lab-font_weight=\"font-weight-bold\" class=\"font-weight-bold m-font-weight-bold\">Sampa the Great<\/span> sounds an alarm on her latest release. \u201c<span data-lab-italic=\"italic\" class=\"italic m-italic\">Big announcement, I am with the Palsians,<\/span>\u201d she proclaims \u2014 a bold, assured reintroduction nearly three years since her last drop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t even know where that came from,\u201d she tells <span data-lab-italic=\"italic\" class=\"italic m-italic\">OkayAfrica<\/span> from Botswana, where she is currently stationed. It was during a session with [producer, frequent collaborator, and forthcoming album&#8217;s executive producer] Cadenza. \u201cHis sounds are just larger-than-life; they sound like anthems. Subconsciously, I was thinking, \u2018yo, this sounds like a statement.\u2019 The first thing that popped out was \u2018big announcement.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- placeholder(#1) --><\/p>\n<div data-element-guid=\"4d6aa8cc-4c4b-4f82-9ec9-fce125df854e\" class=\"column youtube small-12 large-12 small-abs-12 large-abs-12\">\n<div class=\"content \" style=\"\">\n<div>\n<p>\n                    <iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/dldeuta74BM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s been a rollercoaster ride. COVID-19 forced a permanent return home to Zambia after she\u2019d left in 2012 to study sound engineering in Australia. There, she established herself as one of the country\u2019s premier artists. The move back \u2014 undertaken with her sister and regular collaborator <span data-lab-font_weight=\"font-weight-bold\" class=\"font-weight-bold m-font-weight-bold\">Mwanj\u00e9<\/span> \u2014 was prompted by their father falling ill with COVID.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was really looking like it was done,\u201d she recalls. By \u2018it\u2019 she means everything: a rap career on the cusp, the realization of a long-held dream, all of it suddenly out of reach. \u201cNot only global health-wise, but the music industry had halted. To this day, there are results of what the pandemic [did].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Post-pandemic, the cracks in the music industry have widened: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grammy.com\/news\/2023-post-pandemic-touring-changes-festivals-costs-personnel-backstage-behind-the-scenes\">touring costs have ballooned by 20\u201330%,<\/a> squeezing mid-tier artists even as superstar tours dominate headlines. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c2kdxlv8x05o\">Fans are paying higher ticket prices<\/a> but attending fewer shows, creating a new stratification in live music. On streaming platforms, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hypebot.com\/hypebot\/2025\/12\/spotify-streaming-payouts-explained-is-it-enough.html\">per-stream payouts keep shrinking as<\/a> tens of thousands of tracks flood DSPs daily, while layoffs and a surge in low-quality AI uploads have made the ecosystem more volatile than ever.<\/p>\n<p>In what can only be described as a frantic, pandemic-induced burst of activity, she regrouped with a new band, reconnected with childhood producer icon <span data-lab-font_weight=\"font-weight-bold\" class=\"font-weight-bold m-font-weight-bold\">Mag44<\/span>, and began laying the groundwork for what would become one of 2022\u2019s most electrifying releases in As Above, So Below, the follow-up to 2019\u2019s The Return.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt slowly turned into, \u2018maybe this is for a reason. All of my creation, all the things that I listen to, all the things I\u2019ve been exposed to happen in Africa, whether Zambia or Botswana,\u2019\u201d she says, acknowledging how deeply both her birth country and the country she grew up in shaped her. \u201cI was like, maybe this is my chance to re-establish myself in the place that birthed the dream, versus the place I went to that just happened to start the career. It was dope, and there are terrible and amazing elements of Australia. But it\u2019s where my career started, and where I have a strong Black community too, because there are Black people in Australia, contrary to popular belief.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Zamrock Bloodline<\/h2>\n<p>The next two years were a hive of activity: back-to-back festival appearances at giant platforms like Primavera and Glastonbury, multiple award nominations, a deluxe album version, and a making-of documentary \u2014 all contributing to a rising public profile that felt rooted at home in every sense, helmed by one of the most engaging lyricists and performers on the continent today.<\/p>\n<div data-element-guid=\"64fe23a3-5210-45c0-89c5-1b7b88fd6d4c\" class=\"column youtube small-12 large-12 small-abs-12 large-abs-12\">\n<div class=\"content \" style=\"\">\n<div>\n<p>\n                    <iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/drydvdBCaHU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Before that whirlwind, she made a stop in Johannesburg, performing at Music In Africa\u2019s ACCESS showcase in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may have been our first show outside of Zambia. You could see people were like, \u2018how is this going to go?\u2019\u201d she recalls, erupting in a roar of laughter, the brightest spark in our conversation. \u201cIt was really dope. Obviously, it was nerve-wracking because it was the same day a new COVID variant was announced. We couldn\u2019t hide from what was happening in the world, but we really banded together in the way we communicated with the crowd. We understood what was going on, and we had to find a sense of connection with the audience. I think we established then what we\u2019re about as a band. We\u2019re not here just for entertainment; we\u2019re going to react to what\u2019s happening in the world, because we do that as individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The past two years, she says, have required a great deal of \u201creworking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebuilding things, making an album, being back after two years of no music, of changed management, of changed spaces. But I\u2019m happy to be moving in the strides of the other side, where it looks like there\u2019s some sunshine involved, which I like,\u201d she says, joy evident in every word.<\/p>\n<p>Details about the new album remain under wraps; she doesn\u2019t yet have a firm release date.<\/p>\n<p>Home also brought comfort. For the first time, she didn\u2019t have to explain anything \u2014 be it a drum pattern, a reference melody, or a continent-renowned pop song. It all just flowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving to translate sometimes, elements get lost when you\u2019re working with bands that aren\u2019t African,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan\u2019t Hold Us\u201d has been warmly received, a testament to the trust she\u2019s built and the love she\u2019s cultivated. When she raps in the second verse, \u201cHere\u2019s a moment of silence, bring it back to the art \/ mindblowing, it\u2019s a classical part of the Zam rock of hip-hop,\u201d it sounds ordained, especially given what we now know about her uncle, <span data-lab-font_weight=\"font-weight-bold\" class=\"font-weight-bold m-font-weight-bold\">George \u201cGroovy Joe\u201d Kunda<\/span>, a founding member of the legendary Zambian Zamrock band W.I.T.C.H.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[They] were my introduction to Zam rock, but even stranger was the way it happened,\u201d she says. She first heard a song while watching the series The Watchman with her sister, then logged onto X to find discussions about the Zambian band. The song was \u201cLiving In The Past\u201d from their 1974 debut album, The Past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I start looking them up. I need you to know I had no clue my uncle founded this band, being a pioneer. This is like listening to a song and thinking, \u2018that\u2019s cool,\u2019 finding the band and working with them, and then, a year or two later, discovering your uncle actually founded the band. I was just like, it\u2019s so crazy because my career took me to a different continent, and it started there. Maybe had I stayed and learned more about my family\u2019s musical history, I\u2019d have found this out. It was really destined. And rock \u2014 Afro-rock in particular \u2014 has always been part of my music, because of its boldness and loudness. Knowing there\u2019s a blood connection to this music, and in particular Zam rock, has given me permission.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.okayafrica.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sampa the Great sounds an alarm on her latest release. \u201cBig announcement, I am with the Palsians,\u201d she proclaims \u2014 a bold, assured reintroduction nearly three years since her last drop. \u201cI don\u2019t even know where that came from,\u201d she tells OkayAfrica from Botswana, where she is currently stationed. It was during a session with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2192872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2192871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-Great-Returns-With-Cant-Hold-Us-Nu-Zamrock.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2192871"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2192873,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192871\/revisions\/2192873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2192872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2192871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2192871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2192871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}