Sampa The Great has announced Nu Zamrock, her third album, set for release on October 30 via Loma Vista. The announcement marks the Zambian artist's recording comeback following As Above, So Below, released in 2022, and arrives alongside “Simon Says”, a new single that spotlights a recurring theme in the contemporary music economy: the control exerted over artists by metrics, expectations, and externally imposed behavioral models.
The project will also feature “Can’t Hold Us”, a track released in 2025. Alongside the new single, Sampa The Great introduced Ukwamba: (To Start), a visual introduction accompanying the launch of the album campaign. Executive production on Nu Zamrock is helmed by Cadenze.
The title is not merely a stylistic indicator. For the artist, Zamrock is personal territory, tied to a family discovery: her uncle George Kunda, known as Groovy Joe, was among the founding members of WITCH, a pivotal band in the Zambian psychedelic rock scene. From this stems the idea of an album that looks at that legacy without presenting it as a revival exercise or archival repertoire. Sampa The Great describes Nu Zamrock as a reclamation of her artistic and family genealogy, as well as a way to bring the genre into the present on her own terms.
A heritage that enters the writing of the present
The choice to name the record Nu Zamrock clarifies the project's scope: the reference to Zambian tradition is explicit, yet the word “Nu” suggests a forward shift. Sampa The Great links this perspective to her own identity and to a vision of music that is outspoken, combative, and untamed. In her account, the memory of Zamrock is not treated as distant heritage to be celebrated with deference, but rather as a source to be reactivated.
It is also a significant development in terms of how artists build their international positioning today. Local musical genealogies are often leveraged by the industry when they become easily recognizable, playlistable labels, or marketable points of differentiation. The risk, in these cases, is reducing a cultural history to an aesthetic gesture. Sampa The Great, instead, attempts to weave the reference into her own journey: she does not present Zamrock as an external quotation, but as a family lineage that shapes the creative direction of the record.
This does not yet allow for a definition of the album's overall sound, as the announcement does not preview a full tracklist or provide details about the musical lineup involved. However, it precisely outlines the framework: a body of work where the connection to Zambia, WITCH, and George Kunda is part of its raison d'être. The presence of Cadenze as executive producer adds a further production element to a phase that, at least from early indications, appears conceived as an organic project rather than a succession of singles.
“Simon Says” and the system that dictates the rules
If the background of Nu Zamrock defines the history from which the album departs, “Simon Says” lays bare its contemporary conflict. Sampa The Great explained that the track stems from the pressures of visibility: being watched, judged, and pushed to conform to constant rules. In the title, “Simon” becomes the representation of a system that tells artists how to look and how to behave.
The target identified by the artist is an industry where numbers can carry more weight than artistic exploration. It is not an abstract accusation: in modern music promotion, the constant measurement of attention spans stream counts, content performance, release frequency, and the ability to remain visible. The pressure does not merely concern the commercial outcome of a song, but can extend to building a public image and the way an artist is expected to tell their story.
With “Simon Says”, Sampa The Great places this tension at the center of the album rollout rather than leaving it in the background. The track thus also functions as a statement of intent: a record evoking a rebellious spirit from Zambia’s past uses its first new piece to address current forms of industry conditioning. This juxtaposition does not automatically turn the work into a manifesto, but it clearly indicates that artistic autonomy will be one of the key lenses through which to interpret this new phase.
For an artist returning with an album after four years, the choice of lead single carries particular weight. In a market where campaigns tend to compress timelines and chase immediate signals, releasing a track that critiques the obsession with metrics also means stepping away—at least narratively—from the rhetoric of performance. It will ultimately be up to the record to show how thoroughly this stance permeates the songs, rather than remaining confined to its introduction.
The return after As Above, So Below
Nu Zamrock arrives four years after As Above, So Below. In the interim, “Can’t Hold Us” had already teased the new phase, while “Simon Says” and the visual Ukwamba: (To Start) now mark its official launch. The chosen sequence is revealing: first a track released last year, followed by an announcement focusing both on the project’s familial origins and its stance toward the industry’s present state.
Many details remain to be revealed. The announcement did not share further track titles, guests, format specifications, or tour dates tied to the release. Consequently, it would be premature to view Nu Zamrock as a philological reconstruction of Zamrock or to anticipate a precise balance between rap, vocals, and psychedelic rock references. The available information supports a more focused assessment: Sampa The Great is building her next album around an avowed lineage and an open critique of the conventions governing the public lives of artists.
The next date to mark is October 30. Until then, “Simon Says” and Ukwamba: (To Start) are the two materials through which to follow Sampa The Great’s entry into this chapter. For Loma Vista, the record represents a release that comes with an already defined narrative identity; for the artist, it is an opportunity to transform a family story into a language addressing the present, without separating musical exploration from the conditions under which that music is produced, promoted, and judged.
