Sampha is a singer, songwriter and producer from London. His first album, Process, won the Mercury Prize in 2017. He’s collaborated with artists like the XX, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Solange. If you saw the Song Exploder Netflix show, Sampha was in the Alicia Keys episode, for the song they did together as a duet. This year, in October 2023, Sampha put out his second album, Lahai. And for this episode, I talked to Sampha about the song “Spirit 2.0.” Coming up you’ll hear the original demo, and some early voice memos.
Sampha recruited some collaborators for the song, like producer Pablo Diez-Reixa, aka El Guincho, who won a Grammy for his work on Rosalia’s first album; plus Yaeji; and Lisa Kaindé, from Ibeyi. But the song “Spirit 2.0” first took shape when Sampha was by himself, at home.
For more, visit songexploder.net/sampha.
John Lennon - God
Lucy Dacus - Thumbs
Mustafa - Air Forces
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
The Shins - New Slang
Cheap Trick - Surrender
Fousheé - Deep End
AURORA - Runaway
Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us
Arlo Parks - Black Dog
Imagine Dragons - Follow You
girl in red - Serotonin
Porter Robinson - Get Your Wish
Lianne La Havas - Can't Fight
Jon Batiste - We Are
Glass Animals - Heat Waves
Sasha Sloan - Until It Happens To You
PJ Morton - Say So (feat. JoJo)
HAIM - Summer Girl
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father and Son
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