2023 by its Artists #6: Sam Akpro.

Taking his intense sound to new heights with EP ‘Arrival’ and followup single ‘Death By Entertainment,’ 2023 has been a huge year for the Peckham artist.

Sam Akpro sounds like no one else. Having delighted us across festival bills and a string of singular releases, which combine plaintively immediate lyrics with industrious instrumentals that capture the crush of London life, we had a lot to catch up on for his review of the year.

2023 round-up:

This year started off with me trying to work out where I was going next musically. I hadn’t released any music in a while, and I had these four songs which were all written at different points over the past three years. I took them to The Church Studios where I finished writing them with engineer/producer Riley MacIntyre and brought in my band to come and perform some of the tracks. These would go on to become my second EP ‘Arrival’which I released in April.

One of my highlights for this year was selling my headline show in London in my hometown of Peckham. Another was signing with ANTI- Records and releasing my first single with them, ‘Death By Entertainment,’ which came about in a very organic and natural way. I’m looking forward to releasing more music with them.

Album of the Year.

An album of the year for me was probably Yves Tumor’s ‘Hot Between Worlds.’ The whole project is just filled with bangers. Sometimes I get bored of listening to songs with the same structures, but this album never stayed still. Sonically, it couldn’t have been more interesting to me: the drums and the samples made me feel nostalgic, but it was also new and innovative at the same time.

King Krule’s ‘Space Heavy’ was also one of my favourites. This year has been a very weird year for me and my circle of friends, and I think listening to this for some reason helped me to make sense of lots of things or even escape them for a while. As always, the production was unlike anything else and seemed to follow its own rhythm.

Song of the Year.

Yves Tumor’s ‘Ebony Eye’ was the song of the year for me. When I heard it, I just couldn’t stop playing it. It sounded both fresh and unfamiliar, and I loved the lyrics.

Musical Career Highlight.

Playing two of my first-ever European gigs in Paris and Amsterdam in November. I hadn’t left the UK for a few years, so going to another city to perform was a milestone for me.

Favourite Live Show.

I’d probably say Outbreak Festival in Manchester back in June. The crowd for my set was crazy – I had to jump in the mosh pit with them! The festival itself had the sickest line-up. I saw Earl Sweatshirt live, as well as Death Grips and a host of hardcore bands that I’d never listened to before. Green Man Festival was great, too. It’d been raining all of the night we got there and my tent was fucked up, so my mates and I stayed up all night and played the gig to a big sunny crowd the next day which felt good.