Hip hop artist Sampa the Great has won the Australian Music Prize for 2018 for her debut album Birds and the BEE9, making her the thirteenth annual winner of this prize.
The Zambian-born Sydney based rapper has beaten out 8 other competitors to take home the prize, securing a place among some of Australia’s best talent as well as $30,000 in prize money courtesy of PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia).
The rapper, who is more known at home by her birth name Sampa Tembo, has expressed her surprise at winning the prestigious prize.
“I didn’t see any of this in my periphery when coming to Australia”
The 13-track album has been described as a worthy addition to the growing list of AMY winners that have left their mark on the Australian music scene, combining Tembo’s natural style and energy with thought-provoking, socially conscious themes.
“It’s not Turn-Up music, it goes super-deep. We’ll still be playing this 50 years in the future; you and your kids will be too”, AMP judge Mikey Cahill said of Birds and the BEE9.
Now entering its thirteenth year, the AMP exists to discover, reward and promote new Australian talent. This will be the second year that the event was held in Melbourne, where it will be continually hosted from 2019 onwards thanks to a new partnership with the Victorian Government.
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