Hear Sampha Cover Drake’s “Controlla” In The BBC Live Lounge

Hear Sampha Cover Drake’s “Controlla” In The BBC Live Lounge

The introspective UK singer Sampha has recorded with Drake a number of times over the years, and on Drake’s new album More Life, Sampha gets the entire track “4422” to himself. So maybe that’s why, in his recent appearance in the BBC Live Lounge, Sampha picked a Drake song to cover. Sampha covered “Controlla,” the dancehall-flavored banger from last year’s Views, and he switched it up and made it sound like a Sampha song. Sampha removed the “Controlla” beat entire, substituting jazz-damaged piano runs and tense, buzzing strings. In Sampha’s hands, even a confident anthem like “Controlla” sounds wounded and heartsick. As Pitchfork points out, you can hear Sampha’s cover here; it starts around the 2:14:17 mark.

Sampha’s new album Process is out now on Young Turks.

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