Sampa The Great Lands On ' EA FC 26' Soundtrack With New Single

As she’s consistently proven, Sampa The Great is a force to be reckoned with. She’s returned with a powerful new single, Can’t Hold Us, which has already landed a spot on the EA FC 26 soundtrack.

The latest single from the Zambian rapper and singer made it to in-game playlists from yesterday (14 November), and makes her the second artist with ties to Australia to feature in the game. Upon the game’s launch in late September, dance music favourites Bag Raiders made their way to the soundtrack. They join artists such as Ed Sheeran, Fred again.., PinkPantheress, The Cure, and HAIM.

Arriving after the exclusive track GOAT for the HIM soundtrack, released in September, Can’t Hold Us marks a new era for Sampa The Great. She teased the track while playing live in Brixton last month with streamer DJ AG, and upon its release, she’ll celebrate with a free block party in Lusaka, Zambia, on Saturday, 22 November.

Hosting the party alongside the Lusaka Thrift Market, a creative organisation that hosts pop-up youth events in the centre of Lusaka, profits from the event will be donated to the local creative community.

With the release of Can’t Hold Us, Sampa The Great has reimagined Zamrock, offering her own daring, unique blend of rock, funk, and African rhythms, combined with hip-hop, poetry, and soul. Describing her sound as Nu Zamrock, she explained, “Zamrock is my sound; it’s my voice. Being Zambian, being loud, being defiant — that’s what Zamrock is.”

She added, “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.”

You can watch the visualizer for Can’t Hold Us below.

Born in Zambia and having called Australia home from 2014 to 2020, Sampa The Great is a four-time ARIA Award-winning artist who has been making waves globally.

The new single is the first taste of a forthcoming third album, following mixtapes The Great Mixtape (2015), the Australian Music Prize-winning Birds and the Bee9 (2017), and albums The Return (2019) and 2022’s As Above, So Below. The breakout success of The Return also made Sampa The Great the first artist to win the Australian Music Prize twice.