Latest Release
- 20 NOV 2024
- 1 Song
- Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers · 2022
- More Life · 2017
- Nothing Was the Same (Deluxe) · 2013
- This Is What I Mean · 2022
- Process · 2017
- Dual - EP · 2013
- Not Waving, But Drowning · 2019
- Too Much / Happens - Single · 2013
- Too Much / Happens - Single · 2013
- Richard Russell Is Temporary · 2024
Essential Albums
- It’s tempting to view the numerous accolades garnered by Sampha Sisay’s debut album as inevitable—the wholly predictable capstone to the south London-raised singer and producer’s frictionless 2010s emergence as a favoured feature artist among hip-hop and R&B’s creative elite (a group that includes Drake, Solange and Frank Ocean). But Process, released in 2017, was born amid the existential threat of all manner of personal obstacles. And if the album draws its heft, drama and mournful magic from anywhere, it’s from the fact you can not only hear this tension—you can feel it. Shaped by familial grief, health worries and enforced deliberation, Process is the sound of an artist leaning into the skid of personal tumult, and finding lasting beauty amid the chaos. This is most obviously evident in Sampha’s voice: A husked, glittering marvel that cracks at its uppermost register, whether it’s anchoring a piece of bustling, piano-driven soul (“Blood On Me”) or a sketched chamber piece (“Take Me Inside”). Then there’s “(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano”, the emotional highlight of Process, and a song that distills the loss of both his parents into a spare, pulse-slowing meditation about bereavement, family and the life-altering, secondhand upright piano that Sampha’s dad brought home when the singer was three years old. But while Process spotlights the mercurial, distinctive capabilities of That Voice, the album is also a showcase for the musicianship and production-savvy that marked Sampha’s early days, back when he was uploading post-grime instrumentals to his MySpace account. “Kora Sings” swerves from glitchy electronica to intricate, West African polyrhythms. “Plastic 100°C”—inspired by Sampha’s struggle with a rare condition that left him with a literal lump in the throat—duels intimate plucked strings with the momentousness of the moon landings (via radar bleeps and Neil Armstrong samples). And “Timmy’s Prayer” is a garment-rending plea for romantic absolution, built upon swaying organ and glinting, hard-edged drums. Process is the sound of everyday pain transmuted into music—of the process of life being rendered with cinematic flair, nerveless honesty and impossibly high stakes. “I’d like to dedicate this award to my parents,” Sampha said while accepting his 2017 Mercury Prize. Process is the perfect tribute, testament and thank-you.
Albums
Artist Playlists
- A UK soul heavy hitter with a voice like spun gold.
- Foggy UK electronic and avant-soul savants.
- Warm, electronic R&B with a strong emotive punch.
- Sampha joins Zane Lowe to talk about his new album Lahai.
Singles & EPs
Appears On
- Speakers Corner Quartet
- Everything Is Recorded
- Sampha explores spirituality with Kalu Rinpoche.
- Sampha heads into the Jungle with DBridge.
- Little Simz joins Sampha backstage in London.
- Sampha transports you into his musical universe.
- Sampha welcomes professor Brian Cox to his studio.
- Sampha exchanges tracks with Shy One.
- Sampha revisits a music-sharing session with Lil Silva.
More To See
- 2017
About Sampha
After years of high-profile collaborations, London-born pianist, producer and rueful crooner Sampha made his grand entrance with his Mercury Prize–winning 2017 album Process. • Inspired by his older brother, who built a studio in their childhood home, Sampha forayed into music production in his early teens. • Through MySpace, Sampha connected with London artist Kwes, who helped him secure an internship in 2009 with his current label Young Turks. • That year, Sampha issued his breakthrough single, a remix of The xx’s “Basic Space”. His debut EP, Sundanza, arrived in 2010. • Between 2010 and 2014, Sampha contributed to Drake’s Grammy-nominated 2013 album Nothing Was the Same and Beyoncé’s triple-Grammy-winning 2013 eponymous LP. He also joined early sessions for Solange’s 2016 album A Seat at the Table and worked on the song “Saint Pablo”, off Kanye West’s The Life Of Pablo. • Sampha issued his debut album, Process, in 2017. Led by the heartfelt ode to his late mother, “(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano”, Process hit No. 7 on the UK albums chart and won the 2017 Mercury Prize.
- HOMETOWN
- Morden, South London, England
- BORN
- 16 November 1988
- GENRE
- Electronic