Singer, keyboardist, and producer Sampha started making music early in his teenage years. He attempted to get MCs to rhyme over his beats, but he was rebuffed. In 2009, however, the South London native remixed the xx track "Basic Space," which led to a busy schedule throughout 2010 and 2011. During these two years, his profile was raised significantly through collaborations with SBTRKT, Jessie Ware, and Lil Silva. Most of the tracks on SBTRKT's self-titled album, released in 2011, involved him in some capacity. His 2012 wasn't quite as eventful, but 2013 brought a featured role on Drake's "Too Much" (from Nothing Was the Same), as well as Dual (Young Turks), the debut Sampha EP. Abstract and sparse, the latter release was a brief showcase for his fragile yet expressive voice.
