Zamrock pioneers W.I.T.C.H share the stage with groundbreaking artist Sampa The Great in an exclusive collaboration for Brighton Festival.
A night celebrating the new resurgence of Zamrock; bringing W.I.T.C.H., one of the original voices of this inspirational African music phenomenon together with Nu Zamrock wave led visionary - Sampa The Great, driving the next generation energy into a new cultural movement.
The two acts will not only be sharing the stage in this evening of powerful and joyful music but will be collaborating and performing together in this UK exclusive for Brighton Festival. Sampa The Great is a Zambian-born, Botswana raised rapper, singer, and visionary who has long been celebrated as one of global hip-hop’s most compelling voices and is stepping into her most powerful era yet.
In recent years, she has embarked on a musical journey, discovering that her connection to Zamrock runs deeper in her family than she ever realised.
In 2023, she learned that her uncle, Joe “Groovy Joe” Kunda, is the founder of the band W.I.T.C.H., and that he had recruited lead singer Jagari long before her own collaboration with the band, or her Zamrock discovery.
This special performance, embracing legacy, destiny, and evolution, sees her fully stepping into the electrifying energy of Zamrock.
Presented with Acid Box
Sampa The Great
Zambian-born rapper, singer, and visionary Sampa The Great has long been celebrated as one of global hip-hop’s most compelling voices, and is stepping into her most powerful era yet.
Winning multiple awards for her groundbreaking albums and performing on some of the world’s most iconic stages, from Coachella and Glastonbury to NPR’s Tiny Desk, Sampa’s achievements have seen her build a global fanbase while continuously pushing and challenging artistic and cultural boundaries. Relocating back to Zambia in 2020 marked a pivotal shift in her artistry, deepening her connection to her roots and shaping her sonic evolution.
W.I.T.C.H.
W.I.T.C.H. (We Intend To Cause Havoc) were the biggest rock band in Zambia in the 1970s and spearheaded Zamrock, fusing influences that ranged from the Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath and James Brown and mixing them with traditional African rhythms and bush village songs. As Zambia’s economy stagnated and the country buckled under the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, W.I.T.C.H. fell apart. Their charismatic lead singer Jagarii retreated to a life of quasi-anonymity as a university music professor before being wrongfully arrested and finally ending up working in a Zambian gemstone mine.
In the new century, the music found a new audience when Now Again Records reissued their entire discography in 2012. Jagari began a collaboration with Dutch musicians Jacco Gardner and Nic Mauskoviç, and W.I.T.C.H. was reborn.
**Stage timings are subject to change
