Sampa The Great returns with defiant new single ‘Can’t Hold Us’

Sampa The Great has returned with a powerful new single called ‘Can’t Hold Us’. Check it out below.

• READ MORE: Sampa The Great: “Music is the one thing that is supposed to be the truth”

Arriving via Loma Vista, the song marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Zambian musician and rapper, and sees her reimagining Zamrock. In the song, she takes that combination of rock, funk, and African rhythm and puts her own spin on it by introducing elements of hip-hop, poetry, and soul.

According to the artist, the song comes as a track of awakening, and the new approach to Zamrock is something that she describes as ‘Nu Zamrock’.

“Zamrock is my sound. It’s my voice. Being Zambian, being loud, being defiant — that’s what Zamrock is,” she explained.

“This is the declaration track. I’m saying: I’ve stepped into my power, into my sound, into my purpose. I’ve claimed this thing — Nu Zamrock — as something of my own, something I’m shaping in real time,” she added. “And in this new form, with this much clarity and drive? You can’t hold us. You can’t stop us. Not anymore.”

Sampa first previewed the song live at her show in Brixton in October alongside DJ AG, and it is now included in EAFC 26. Check out the official visualiser directed by Iggy London below.

‘Can’t Hold Us’ is the first preview of Sampa’s upcoming third album, which will be the follow-up to 2022’s ‘As Above, So Below’ and her 2019 breakout debut ‘The Return’.

It also follows her sharing an exclusive new track ‘GOAT’ for the soundtrack of new film HIM. Last month (November 22), the artist helped host a free block party in Lusaka, Zambia. This was held in conjunction with the Lusaka Thrift Market – a creative collective who host pop-up themed fashion and art youth events – and profits from the event will go back into the local creative community.

In 2023, Sampa took part in a new festival project organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, performing alongside artists including Solange, Mount Eerie, Sonya Holowell and more.

Her latest album was given a four-star review from NME, with Kyann-Sian Williams calling it “a heartfelt, honest homage to a country and continent, created by a powerful, unapologetic artist”.

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