Sampa The Great has won the 2020 Australian Music Prize for her debut album The Return, beating out the likes of Julia Jacklin and Thelma Plum.
This is a win for the history books, as Sampa has become the only person to ever win the Australian Music Prize twice. She won the award in 2017 for her mixtape Birds And The BEE9.
Winning the prize also means Sampa takes home $30,000 in prize money.
“The fact that I’m able to create my most vulnerable music and have it supported over the years has been amazing! I want to thank the AMP for recognising the music and stories behind The Return,” Sampa said.
“The Return was not written for radio play or commercial appeal. It was written to bring to light the journey of a person who began her career in a country far away from home. It was to bring to light the sense of displacement felt in that journey and in a global sense throughout the world. It allowed me to tell my full story – without having it told for me. I thank the AMP for looking at solely the music and judging only that. As in this day and age it seems that is not the norm.”
The final shortlist came down to nine albums, including Thelma Plum’s Better In Blak, Julia Jacklin’s Crushing and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ Ghosteen to name a few.
