Sampha | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Sampha Lahai Sisay |
Born | Morden, London, England | 16 November 1988
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Children | 1 |
Instruments |
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Discography | Sampha discography |
Years active | 2009–present |
Labels | |
Website | sampha |
Sampha Lahai Sisay (born 16 November 1988) is a British singer, songwriter, musician and record producer from Morden, South London. [1] Sampha has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Frank Ocean, SBTRKT, Jessie Ware, Gorillaz, Travis Scott, Kanye West, Solange and others. [2] Sampha has released two solo EPs: Sundanza (2010) [3] and Dual (2013). [4] Sampha's debut album, Process , was released on 3 February 2017 by Young [5] and won the 2017 Mercury Prize. [6] His second album, Lahai , was released on 20 October 2023. [7]
Sampha was born in Morden, South London to Sierra Leonean parents who moved to the United Kingdom in the 1980s. His introduction to music began with learning to play on the piano at his parents' home in Morden and listening to records given to him by his older siblings. As a teenager he discovered music production after his older brother, Sanie, built himself a makeshift home studio. He went to Ewell Castle School, studying A-Level Music: in 2017 he returned to open a new music studio building. [8]
In 2007, Sampha met London producer Kwes, whose music Sampha said changed his life, through Myspace. Kwes guided him and introduced him to musicians, Mica "Micachu" Levi, Ghostpoet, Dels as well as his future record label Young. In 2009 Sampha interned at the label. [9] Also through Young, Sampha remixed "Basic Space" by The xx and meet his earliest collaborators: SBTRKT, Jessie Ware, Bullion and Lil Silva. Sampha is also the cousin of grime artist Flirta D from the grime music group SLK. [10] [11] [12]
In 2017, Sampha released his first album, Process , to critical acclaim. The album won Sampha the Mercury Prize for best album of the year. He released his second album Lahai in 2023, also to critical acclaim.
Sampha's first child, a daughter, was born in the spring of 2020. [13]
Year | Organisation | Award | Work | Result |
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2013 | BBC [15] | Sound of 2014 | Himself | Fourth |
2017 | Mercury Prize | Album of the Year | "Process" | Won |
Soul Train Music Awards | Best Collaboration | "Don't Touch My Hair" (with Solange Knowles) | Nominated | |
Best Dance Performance | Nominated | |||
2018 | Worldwide Awards | Album of the Year | Process | Won |
BRIT Awards | Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act | Himself | Nominated | |
Ivor Novello Awards [16] | Best Song, Musically and Lyrically | "No One Knows Me (Like the Piano)" | Nominated | |
2023 | Grammy Awards [17] | Album of the Year | Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (as a featured artist and songwriter) | Nominated |
2024 | Ivor Novello Award [18] | Best Album | Lahai | Nominated |
2024 | Ivor Novello Award [18] | Best Song, Musically and Lyrically | Spirit 2.0 | Nominated |
2024 | American Association of Independent Music Libera Awards [19] | Best R&B Record | Lahai | Won |
AIM Independent Music Awards | Best Independent Track | Spirit 2.0 | Won | |
Best Independent Video | Only(Directed by Dexter Navy) | Won | ||
Iain Archer is a Northern Irish writer, producer, singer and songwriter from Bangor. He is a two-time Ivor Novello Award winner, winning the 2004 Album Award – Final Straw by Snow Patrol and Most Performed Work in 2016 for Grammy nominated "Hold Back the River", which he co-wrote with James Bay. Additionally, Archer was a 2013 Ivor Novello Award nominee for Best Song Musically & Lyrically – "Two Fingers" by Jake Bugg.
Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith, known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's "Broken Strings", Tinchy Stryder's "Number 1" and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart". In 2016, Smith teamed up with Stormzy to produce his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, which won Best Album at the 2018 Brit Awards. Earlier that year he produced seven tracks on Kano's Made in the Manor album and co-produced the debut EP from South London rapper Dave. Smith has also worked with Sam Smith.
Ewell Castle School is a 3–18 mixed, private day school and sixth form in Ewell, Epsom, Surrey, England. It was founded in 1926 by Herbert Budgell as a boarding school and became fully mixed in September 2015. It consists of the Main House, Glyn House, Chessington Lodge and Fitzalan House.
Kwesi Sey, professionally known as Kwes is a British music producer, composer and artist from London, England. Kwes is also currently signed to Warp as a solo artist and released his debut album, ilp, in October 2013. He has since gone on to produce music for the likes of Damon Albarn, Bobby Womack, Solange Knowles, Sampha, Loyle Carner, Black Coffee, Nubya Garcia, Mica Levi, Tirzah, Lucy Rose and numerous others. He also composed his debut feature length score for 2023 British rom-com film Rye Lane, directed by Raine Allen-Miller. It won a BIFA in 2023 for Best Original Music.
Aaron Jerome, known professionally as Sbtrkt, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. Jerome has remixed songs by artists such as M.I.A, Radiohead, Modeselektor, Basement Jaxx, Mark Ronson, and Underworld, and has released singles, EPs, and four albums. His music has been playlisted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music.
Young is a British independent record label that sits in the Beggars Group of labels launched by Caius Pawson in 2006. It has grown from an imprint of XL Recordings into a successful and influential label now partnered with XL and operates across a range of genres. The label's current roster includes The xx, FKA twigs, Sampha, Jamie xx, Koreless and Kamasi Washington.
Sbtrkt is the debut studio album by English musician Sbtrkt. Pitchfork placed the album at number 42 on its list of the "Top 50 albums of 2011".
Roderick William George "Rodaidh" McDonald is a Scottish record producer, and record company executive. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and currently resides in Los Angeles, California, United States. His production and mixing credits include The xx, King Krule, Adele, Sampha, Beck, Weyes Blood, Lykke Li, Daughter, Savages, The Horrors, Bobby Womack, Vampire Weekend, Glaive, Hot Chip, and Gil Scott-Heron.
Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, better known by her stage name Little Simz, is an English-Nigerian rapper. She rose to prominence with the independent release of her first three albums: A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons (2015), Stillness in Wonderland (2016) and Grey Area (2019), the last of which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and won the awards for Best Album at both the Ivor Novello Awards and the NME Awards.
Dual is an EP released in July 2013 by British electronic music singer, songwriter and producer Sampha from Morden, South London, United Kingdom.
Process is the debut studio album by English singer Sampha, released on 3 February 2017 by Young Turks. The album was co-produced by Sampha and Scottish music producer Rodaidh McDonald. It won the Mercury Prize for 2017.
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Tyrone Jermaine "TJ" Carter, better known by the stage name Lil Silva, is an English record producer, singer, songwriter and DJ, based in Bedford. He has produced and sung on his own singles and EPs that have been described as funky house, UK funky, instrumental grime and "dubstep-inflected pop". He also takes a more traditional producer role on other musicians' work—was principal producer on Banks's album Goddess and contributed production to Adele's album 25. He has collaborated with SBTRKT and on Damon Albarn's Africa Express project.
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David Wrench is a Welsh musician, songwriter, producer and mixer based in London. His work has been nominated for Grammys, Brit Awards and shortlisted for numerous Mercury Prize nominations including the 2017 winning album Process by Sampha. and Arlo Parks 2021 'Collapsed in Sunbeams’. Wrench has been the recipient of the BBC Radio Cymru C2 Producer of the Year award five times in six years between 2007 and 2012 and has received Music Producer Guild Awards (MPGs) including Mix Engineer of the Year 2016 and 2019. Credits include, David Byrne, Frank Ocean, The Pretenders, Blur, Caribou, Goldfrapp, Erasure, The xx, Sampha, Jamie xx, Jungle, FKA Twigs, Glass Animals, Florence and the Machine, Arlo Parks, Alma, Hot Chip, Marika Hackman, Honne, Jack Garratt, Manic Street Preachers, Villagers, Courtney Barnett, Austra, Tourist, Richard Russell, Let's Eat Grandma, Young Fathers, Georgia, Bat For Lashes and Race Horses.
English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer Sampha has released two studio albums, two extended plays, and six singles. He joined label Young in 2009 as an intern, which led to his signing. He released his EPs Sundanza and Dual in 2010 and 2013, respectively. He released his debut album Process in 2017 and was met with critical acclaim, eventually winning the 2017 Mercury Prize.
Dean Josiah Cover, professionally known as Inflo, is a British producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He helms the R&B music collective project Sault, which foregrounds black-centric issues.
Lahai is the second studio album by English musician Sampha, released on 20 October 2023 through Young, marking his first release in over six years. The album is named after Sampha's paternal grandfather. The album features contributions from Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Grey, Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson, Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves and Kwake Bass.