Sampa The Great Announces Third Album 'Nu Zamrock' With New Single Simon Says
Thursday, 10 September 2026
Written by Jon Stickler
Sampa The Great has announced a new album.
The follow-up to 2022's 'As Above, So Below' is titled 'Nu Zamrock' and will arrive on October 30 via Loma Vista Recordings. Executive produced by Grammy Award-winner Cadenze, the album was inspired by a family discovery, with Sampa learning that her uncle George Kunda (Groovy Joe) was a founding member of Zambia's legendary psych-rock band WITCH, pioneers of the '70s Zamrock movement, which fused rock, funk and African rhythms. She explained:
"Zamrock is part of my family legacy. It’s my voice. Being Zambian, being loud, being defiant — that’s what Zamrock is. 'Nu Zamrock' is not nostalgia. It is the future remembering where it came from. This album is a reclamation of my lineage and bloodline: it is my homage to the disruptive, rebellious spirit that Zamrock represented at its peak and carried Zambia forward with, reintroducing the genre to the world, in my own way."
To mark the announcement, Sampa has shared a visual introduction to the record titled Ukwamba (To Start). Shot in Zambia, it tells the story of bloodline and passing down a legacy through song and storytelling, following different versions Sampa and her uncle.
She has also shared a fierce new single from the album, Simon Says, which combines hip hop, African rhythms and psychedelic sounds while tackling the music industry’s fixation with perception. Sampa said:
"This track is my honest reflection on the pressure of visibility—being watched, judged, and shaped by endless rules. What should a “star” look or act like? The industry seems to value numbers over artistry. Simon Says critiques the industry, where “Simon” is the system telling artists how to be."
The album will also include last November's single Can’t Hold Us featuring Mwanjé, which was included on the EA FC 26 in-game playlist.
She'll celebrate the album with a special double show at the new London venue Blue Note on November 4, following appearances at Move My Way Festival in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia next month.
'Nu Zamrock' tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Prayer In A Dance
3. Can’t Quit Music
4. Simon Says
5. Catch If You Can
6. Can’t Hold Us [Feat. Mwanjè]
7. Location
8. Canary
9. Maybe Then
10. Supernova [Feat. Sia]
11. So Mone
12. Star [Feat. KAMAUU]
13. The Journey Is Underrated
14. Gone [Feat. Nicole Gumbe]
15. Nicole’s Interlude
16. I Can Love
Sampa The Great Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
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