Sampha Lahai Sisay (born 16 November 1988) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer from

Morden Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, ...

. Sampha is widely known for his collaborative work with

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

, SBTRKT,

Jessie Ware Jessica Lois Ware (born 15 October 1984) is an English singer, songwriter and broadcaster. Ware came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album, '' Devotion'' (2012), which peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, produ ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, Solange and others. Sampha has released two solo EPs: ''Sundanza'' (2010) and ''

Dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

'' (2013). Sampha's debut album, ''

Process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

'', was released on 3 February 2017 by Young and won the 2017

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

Early years

Sampha was born in

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

and absorbing as it were records given to him by his older siblings. Later he discovered music production as a young teen, after his older brother, Sanie, built himself a makeshift home studio. He also went to Ewell Castle School for a number of years where he studied

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

Music and in 2017 returned to open a new music studio building. In 2007 through Myspace.com, Sampha met London producer, Kwes, whose music Sampha said changed his life. Kwes guided him and made introductions to musicians, Mica "Micachu" Levi, Ghostpoet,

DELS Kieren Gallear also known as DELS (pronounced "Dels") is a British art director, recording artist, rapper, graphics designer and filmmaker born in Ipswich, England, currently based in London. Gallear signed with the Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada ...

as well as his now label-home, Young. In 2009 Sampha interned at the label. Also through Young, Sampha was able to remix ' Basic Space' by

The xx The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), an ...

and meet his earliest collaborators: SBTRKT,

, Bullion and Lil Silva. Sampha is also the cousin of grime artist Flirta D from the grime music group SLK.

Discography

* ''

'' (2017)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1988 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers English record producers English soul singers English people of Sierra Leonean descent Singers from London People from Morden English male singer-songwriters English electronic musicians XL Recordings artists British hip hop singers