SAMPA THE GREAT

Releases New Single

“BYE RIVER”,

Announces Upcoming Mixtape

BIRDS AND THE BEE9

After the success of her recent single, “Rhymes To The East”, which premiered via triple j earlier this month, Sampa The Great blesses us with her next single “Bye River”. On top of that, she has made an announcement of her next mixtape, Bird And The BEE9. Out Friday, November 10 on Big Dada, Birds And The BEE9 is a record that is both deeply personal and outward-looking.

The tape’s points of reference are poised between her closely-held roots and an internationally-minded musical outlook. An assured picture of herself, she carries her identity through the many-sided musical influences, which she draws from. Working with a close circle of producers to help realise her musical vision – including Kwes Darko, Sensible J (REMI) and Alejandro ‘JJ’ Abapo (Silent Jay) – spanning spiritually-minded gospel and chants to neo-soul and hip-hop, it’s intertwined with a clearly-defined, no-holds-barred political outlook, and speaks a message of healing after her own experiences of hurt and pain.

Birds And The BEE9 arrives after a series of output which has attracted an increasing swell of support in Australia and beyond. Meeting through a freestyle night, it was with producer Dave Rodriguez (Godriguez) that she made 2015’s The Great Mixtape. She linked up with Godriguez again for the “Blue Boss” single, followed by 2016’s Heroes Act 2, which she worked on with Estelle and Rahki as part of a project with Red Bull Sound Select.

Expanding the scope of her collaborators for Birds And The BEE9, also meant honing her idea of what she wants to create. “I’ve only been doing this for two years professionally,” she says. “It was important for me as things continued to grow to take a little time to step back from everything and say, ‘This is what I want to do with my music.’ Music is the way I express myself, the way I reflect on life, reflect on the things that I’ve experienced.”

“Bye River” & the new mixtape showcase the qualities which were already evident in those first releases. Boasting an unhurried, assured delivery, it’s the perfect foil for a self-aware, spiritually minded perspective.