Sampa the Great has begun a new era, reimagining Zamrock with a brand new single, “Can’t Hold Us”.
That daring fusion of rock, funk, and African rhythm that defines Zamrock shines in “Can’t Hold Us”, blended with Sampa’s own lens — where she merges it with hip-hop, poetry, and soul to create Nu Zamrock, a form both ancestral and futuristic. “Zamrock is my sound,” she said. “It’s my voice. Being Zambian, being loud, being defiant — that’s what Zamrock is.”
Released via Loma Vista Recordings, “Can’t Hold Us” stands as a declaration of that awakening: a fierce statement of arrival that fuses the raw energy of rock, hip-hop, soul, and Zambian rhythm into a sound that’s entirely her own.
It is accompanied by an official visualiser directed by Iggy London, which has been chosen as our Video of the Week. Watch it below.
“This is the declaration track. I’m saying: I’ve stepped into my power, into my sound, into my purpose. I’ve claimed this thing — Nu Zamrock — as something of my own, something I’m shaping in real time. And in this new form, with this much clarity and drive? You can’t hold us. You can’t stop us. Not anymore.”
Radiating confidence and creative freedom, the song captures Sampa’s evolution into an artist fully in command of her voice, her heritage, and her moment. It will be included in EA FC 26, and has been dropped into in-game playlists this week.
The song was first teased with a live performance in Brixton last month, with legendary streamer DJ AG. She is also celebrating its release with a free block party in Lusaka, Zambia, set for later this month, hosted in conjunction with the Lusaka Thrift Market, a creative collective who put on monthly pop-up themed fashion and art youth events in the centre of Lusaka. Any profits from the event will go back into the local creative community.
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“Can’t Hold Us” is the first taste of a forthcoming third album project, following on from Sampa’s acclaimed As Above, So Below (2022) and her breakout debut The Return (2019), which was met with a series of accolades including three ARIA Awards (from six nominations), Bandcamp’s Album Of The Year, BET’s Amplified Artist of the Month, and the 2019 Australian Music Prize — the latter making Sampa the first artist to win the award twice.
Sampa blew up globally, well beyond Australia, gracing The Roots Picnic, NPR’s Tiny Desk series, AFROPUNK and, Later….With Jools Holland. She’s an artist who landed on Michelle Obama’s personal playlist, and earned support from industry heavyweights like Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden, and Annie Mac.
Sampa the Great’s “Can’t Hold Us” is out now.
