Sampa Tembo — a.k.a. Sampa the Great — is one of global hip-hop’s most compelling and outspoken voices. Now back in her home country of Zambia after time spent in Botswana and Australia, the 29-year-old rap maven joins us in the studio amid her first international tour for a guest DJ set highlighting Southern Africa’s underground, including Chef 187, A.T.I, and Mpho Sebina.
She also tells us about founding an audio production workshop for Zambian women, her family ties to legendary Zamrock outfit Witch, and why, after sweeping the ARIAs (Australia’s Grammys), she’s still “Zambian at the end of the day" — and how that informs her hotly-anticipated new album "As Above So Below," out Sept. 9.