Sampa The Great is best known for her blend of hip-hop, soul, R&B and spoken word. She released her breakthrough debut album The Return via Ninja Tune last year (listen HERE) which received widespread praise, was included in numerous best-of-2019 lists including Bandcamp’s #1 Album of the Year and, most recently, album track “Freedom” was featured on The Michelle Obama Playlist. The Zambia-born, Botswana-raised & Australia-based musician has also forged a reputation for breaking both personal and industry records during her burgeoning career: she recently became the first musician ever to claim the prestigious Australian Music Prize (AMP) title twice in their career, and she took home the award for “Best Hip Hop Release” at the 2019 ARIA Awards (Australia’s Grammy-equivalent), becoming the first woman of color to achieve the title. 

Sampa The Great returns with new music — a remix of her recent single “Time’s Up” featuring acclaimed Brooklyn-based rapper Junglepussy. The original version of “Time’s Up” features Sampa and Melbourne based-rapper Krown having a conversation about being two young African artists working in the Australian music industry — “An industry that has often been careless in protecting the wellbeing of Black Artists,” explains Sampa. This new version focuses on an industry that is all too ready to dismiss female rappers, and sees Sampa and Junglepussy asserting the power in their voices and the music they make.

Sampa has also launched the #TimesUpRemix competition, in partnership with Soundcloud. The social media competition encourages black women and non-binary people across the world to submit their best verse for “Time’s Up” via Soundcloud, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok and Facebook. Encouraging entrants to speak on their true experience, the top 2 verses could win the chance to have their voice featured on a new official remix, exclusive merch, a free Soundcloud Pro account and more. For additional details and prizes, visit Sampa’s Instagram page. Entries will be judged by Sampa and Junglepussy who note: 

All the Black Queens to the front! 

Give us your best 16 

This one is for all our Black women!

Who’s voices, especially in this genre, are often silenced or taken for granted. 

We want to hear your voice!

We started this competition to hear verses from Black women and non-binary people all around the world.

Speak on the industry or your experience, speak in vernacular, speak on how proud you are to be who you are. 

Whatever you do, speak as you!

All proceeds from the remix’s gross income on downloads and streaming will be donated to Pola Psychology, furthering Sampa’s partnership with the Naarm, Melbourne-based practice that provides culturally responsive mental health care for African youth and musicians in their own community, by their own community. “At a time like this, it’s important to let my friends and the wider African community know that this support exists and our health matters,” notes Sampa. Visit Sampa’s fundraising page for Pola Psychology HERE.