Process - Sampha

BY: BOBBY VAN LEER

“No one knows me like the piano in my mother’s home,” croons the North London native Sampha Sisay on his first proper album, Process. This is not his first major appearance, having collaborated with electronic producer SBTRK on several songs from his 2014 album Wonder Where We Land. In 2013, Drake sampled his song “Too Much” on his own track with the same title and most recently, he appeared on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo (2016) and Solange Knowles’s masterful album A Seat at the Table (2016). Process, however, gives us our first real glimpse at what Sampha can do on his own accord. 

Sampha’s voice is not perfect, but it lends naturally to his sound musically. His voice on “(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano” is raw, emotional, and comforting as he sings over a gentle piano. The song recants his relationship with his mother, who passed away from cancer in 2015. It speaks strongly to his ability to channel his sorrow through the piano and his music as Sampha, just 28 years old, is no stranger to loss. He also tragically lost his father in 1998 to lung cancer and nearly lost his brother, who is now disabled, to a stroke in 2010.  

“Timmy’s Prayer,” another standout on the album with writing credits to Kanye. “It was like this osmosis. [Kanye’s confidence] just manifested itself into me,” Sampha says of the collaboration with West. Building slowly, the track explores his past relationships with lovers, his brother, and religion, and explodes in the final verse with an unrestrained sample of Sampha’s voice. Instrumentally, the album takes influences from electronic, R&B, and hip-hop, blending them together seamlessly, particularly on the track “Reverse Faults.” Overall, the album sets a strong foundation for Sampha to build on going forward, and shows he can succeed both individually and collaboratively. 

Hailing from the burbs of Philly, contributor Bobby Van Leer found his musical taste from albums such as The Blue Album by Weezer and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco. After graduating from Gettysburg College and his college radio show Losing My Edge in 2016, Bobby is eager to make the switch from the airwaves to the internet and continue where he left off in exposing the world to his favorite music, from indie rock, pop, shoegaze and chill wave, to R&B, electronic and trap rap.