Album Of The Year 2017 #16: Sampha - Process - HipHop

Album Of The Year 2017 #16: Sampha - Process
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Album Of The Year 2017 #16: Sampha - Process

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 01:01 PM PST

Artist: Sampha

Album: Process

Label: Young Turks

Release Date: February 3rd 2017

Listen:

Background

Most probably know Sampha, 29-year-old South London angel, from one of two places, either from his heavy involvement with SBTRKT or from the 2013 smash hit 'Too Much' by Drake, perhaps even from his debut EP 'Dual' (also released in 2013), regardless, it seems far too long for Sampha not to have a real body of work out to represent himself and only himself by. Know we know that this was due to unfortunate loss and processing everything that came with that, ultimately becoming the back-bone of this album.

The first rumblings of what we now know as Process unveiled themselves in the middle of 2016, initially in the release of 'Timmy's Prayer', what seemed to be a loosie at the time, and in a live rendition of Plastic 100°c along with an incredible Fader article. More silence. Then, finally, at the end of August he releases the audio for 'Blood On Me', shortly after announcing Process itself (featuring Timmy's Prayer and Blood On Me but strangely not Plastic 100°c) and a tour.

Review

The album starts off with a sample of astronaut Neil Armstrong, intentionally tying into not only lonely imagery littered throughout the opening track, a reworked 'Plastic 100°c', but the incredibly sparse beat that allow his vocals to really shine and absorb all of your attention, a common occurrence during the 40-minute runtime of this album. It immediately takes a sharp left turn sonically into the heavy thumping 'Blood On Me' an almost panic inducing paranoia anthem with a (vocally) incredibly powerful hook, while still maintaining that emotionally dense solitude that was prevalent on the intro.

Sampha then transitions his sights to his mother in 'Kora Sings', an incredible bouncy but still very heartfelt song about her gradual loss of strength and mobility and the denial this causes in Sampha which resorts to bargaining, eventually fading out until there's just the sounds of rain. This is then followed by one of my person favourites on the album, '(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano', a track that is simply Sampha's incredible voice lightly resting on top of his own calm but purposeful piano playing. It's just under 4 minutes long and yet it feels so incredibly short, trading any depth or density to let the words he sings just breathe over the track and rest in your mind, a thank you to his parents for the kickstart of his musical journey via the piano in his mother's home and a longing for happier and healthier times.

'Take Me Inside' almost feels like an interlude into the love portion of the album as this and the two following all revolve heavily around the emotion of love, with the aforementioned track being about losing love and the following track 'Reverse Faults' about dealing with the fallout of that and how that affects his future relationships, with his volatile emotional reaction due to button pressing and distance creation instead of attempting to rectify situations. This is another one of my favourite tracks on the album for easily the best instrumental on this album, it's this brooding electronic beat with heavy drums that still allows room for his voice and his backing vocals. The following track, 'Under', is another fantastic piece in a similar vein to 'Reverse Faults' with a moody electronic beat that really drives the feeling of Sampha trying to break free of this lover that's consumed his mind, starting off with this hypnotic mantra and having the beat slowly build alongside it before he loses himself inside of the thoughts of her. It's an interesting break from dealing with the loss of his mother that should feel out of place but almost feels like a breath of fresh air from all the pressure of loss.

'Timmy's Prayer' finally brings the focus back round to Sampha's mother, the first real single for Process, truly encapsulates the emotion brought out from his mother's death, the obvious pain from the loss, the guilt from him thinking or wishing he could've done more, the yearning for more time with her and sadness when the realization repeatedly hits him that she's not. I wasn't really feeling this much when it first came out (compared to Plastic 100°c and Blood On Me) but it's so powerful and was a great choice for first official single. 'Incomplete Kisses' follows this, expressing how Sampha must let these previous emotions go and learn to open up instead of letting them consume him and close him off to the world.

The final track (on most versions of the album, sorry Japan), 'What Shouldn't I Be?', feels like Sampha finding peace after processing such a tragic event, and wondering what the future holds for him now that he's alone in the world, even with his brother still being out there there's this distance which cannot be overcome. This track, much like '(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano' are both sparse and let Sampha's incredible vocals really get the emotional weight across which is really where he shines. Having listened to this every month since release consistently with new appreciation for certain parts on each listen I can safely say this incredibly thoughtful emotional rollercoaster is going to sit with me for a very long time and I cannot wait for what comes next from Sampha.

Favourite Lyrics

Kora Sings

A pillow on your face soaking up those tears, who's anyone to say you should have no fear? A mouth full of smoke really made things clear, you've been with me since the cradle, you've been with me, you're my angel, please don't you disappear

Reverse Faults

There's a fault in my structure, it's always you and never me. I threw the blame and it shattered, and now there's broken glass praying to be healed. You struck a chord and I listened, you damn near broke all the strings. When you get close I get distant, instead I'll drive away to a place surreal, and tell me how that feels

Under

Sophisticated bitter queen, you're the ghost in my machine, as I sit at my piano and flick through every channel

Discussion Questions

1) Where do you see (or where do you want to see) Sampha go next?

2) How has music brought you help or insight about any kind of loss that allowed you to break through your emotional fog?

3)With there being over 40 tracks made for this album, do you think artists in the genre should be putting out more b-sides or do you think it would have too much of an effect on how they're viewed overall (as being the best is a weirdly prominent goal in hip-hop)

submitted by /u/TheInfinityGauntlet
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Jay-Z Threatened With Violence By George Zimmerman Over Trayvon Martin Doc

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 11:58 AM PST

submitted by /u/ZiggyZaggyOiOi
[link] [comments]

[FRESH] Ski Mask The Slump God ft Rich The Kid - Bukakke

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 05:37 PM PST

submitted by /u/ballerlugosi
[link] [comments]

XXXTentacion’s ex-girlfriend, who he was accused of beating, drops charges and responds to hate by X fans with a video of her and XXXTentacion together in a Instagram post

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 02:18 PM PST

The post

The video shows X violating the restraining order Geneva set on him. It is clear that he has white hair and no eyebrows which shows that he is violating the restraining order.

The post has been deleted.

Mirror of the video of the Instagram post

Mirror of the Instagram post/caption

Caption from the post:

you ever had a rough breakup? if you have then you know how things like "i hate you" "fuck that bitch" "she could die" could be said, but not hold that much meaning- it's just the heat of the moment. that's what happened. people disagree- people get mad, people are fucking human, when the rest of the world and the government got involved it made it to where we couldn't do shit. i just want to say i don't wanna c my best friend in jail, especially on my conscious- that's why i dropped the charges. i can't do much else- but how about we stop spreading hate and stick to his wise words. he's come a long way and doesn't deserve to sit. people r going to tell me to take this down. but honestly the person i'd run to while i'm getting all this hate is gone... & no one else knows me enough to understand what i'm going thru. so ... fuck you. #fuckthelaw #freex #fuckanocontactorder

submitted by /u/UZIGOAT
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Drake says he has a song with Pi'erre Bourne!

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 10:55 AM PST

submitted by /u/1thuggerthugger
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Black Thought Reveals His 10-Minute Freestyle Was Off The Top & Kicks Another Verse

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 04:57 PM PST

submitted by /u/ObieUno
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A$AP Ferg appears on MSNBC in support of Meek Mill

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 12:21 PM PST

submitted by /u/justouttoday
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[Fresh] Stephen Colbert feat. Run the Jewels - Jingle Jingle (Santa Party)

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 07:33 AM PST

submitted by /u/strictly80sjoel
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Daily Discussion Thread 12/16/2017

Posted: 16 Dec 2017 04:47 PM PST

Welcome to the /r/hiphopheads daily discussion thread!

This thread is for:

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