The Zamrock revival: how Zambia’s 1970s Afro-rock sound is reborn

A global wave of renewed interest in Zamrock, the 1970s Afro-rock scene that fused psychedelic guitar with Zambian musical roots, is reshaping how the genre is remembered and heard today. In a move that melds archival reverence with contemporary experimentation, artists such as Sampa the Great are infusing Zamrock into new work, while musicians around the world sample its dustier grooves and bold riffs. The result is a renaissance that travels from Lusaka to stages across Europe and North America, and back to screens that have already used Zamrock songs in popular series and soundtracks.

Zamrock emerged in a Zambia newly free from colonial rule, a country eager to define a post-independence cultural voice. In the 1970s, a policy requiring that 95% of radio music be of Zambian origin created a fertile ground for bold, locally bred sounds. Within this climate, bands fused rock’s energy with traditional Zambian melodies and languages, producing a sound that afro-psychedelic pioneers like WITCH helped crystallize. WITCH — an acronym for We Intend To Cause Havoc — built a reputation for marathon live performances, sometimes running from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., and became one of Zamrock’s defining acts. “We were influenced by rock bands like Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix,” says Emmanuel Chanda, known as Jagari, the band’s frontman. “But we were Africans. We wanted to play like those rock bands but then the African aspect was also calling: ‘You can’t leave me behind.’”

Despite its bold birth, Zamrock did not endure in its original form. The 1970s brought a cascade of crises: copper prices fell, undermining the economy and choking the ability to tour, record, or fund new releases. Piracy eroded revenue, and from the 1980s the HIV/AIDS crisis devastated many musicians, with five of WITCH’s founding members dying from AIDS. By the 1980s, Zamrock faded into memory, and Jagari would later describe returning to civilian life and working in the mines to support his family. Yet the music remained in the crates and the memories of fans who had cherished those long, vibrant shows.

In the early 2010s, Western collectors began rediscovering Zamrock. Now-Again Records, a Los Angeles–based label, played a pivotal role by locating and reissuing Zamrock albums that had long existed in limited runs. “I wasn’t sure if it had a market. I was just sure that it was very cool,” Now-Again founder Eothen “Egon” Alapatt told the BBC. The vinyl revival drew new attention to the music’s immediacy and exuberance, prompting record-store owners to note a spike in demand for original Zamrock records, sometimes fetching substantial sums.

The revival extended beyond reissues. The band WITCH re-formed, incorporating Jagari with younger European musicians, and began touring again. They released new albums, participated in documentaries, and played on major stages such as Glastonbury, marking a trajectory that the original lineup never achieved in its heyday. Jagari, now in his mid-70s, reflects on the second chance: “It’s like a new lease on life I never expected at my advanced age. In Munich, there was crowd surfing, which I had never done before.” Still, he notes the bittersweet distance from his late-era bandmates and the sense that Zamrock’s original sound was a product of a specific, fleeting moment.

The Zamrock story has grown beyond a single band. Contemporary artists such as Travis Scott, Yves Tumour, and Tyler, the Creator have sampled Zamrock catalogs, bringing its textures to hip-hop and R&B audiences. Tyler, who sampled the Ngozi Family song 45,000 Volts on his 2024 track Noid, has called Zamrock “incredible.” Third Man Records, the label co-owned by Jack White, has released live recordings from Zamrock performances, highlighting the genre’s rhythmic vitality and raw energy. Industry observers point to the genre’s English-language vocals and accessible riffs as factors in its broader appeal, but warn that the music should not be reduced to a mere source for samples. “There was a tremendous bias amongst collectors of rock and roll music from around the world against music in the native language of the country that it was created,” Egon says, noting how Zamrock’s export momentum may be sustained by a more deliberate curation of its origins.

More recently, Zamrock has seeped into popular culture through television and film, with songs appearing in series like HBO’s Watchmen and the Emmy-winning Ted Lasso. Within Zambia, a younger generation of artists—Stasis Prey, Vivo, and Mag 44 among them—are reimagining Zamrock by layering it with contemporary styles. Local venues and institutions have responded as well: Lusaka’s Bo’jangles hosts an annual Zamrock Festival, while Modzi Arts has established a small museum to honor the genre’s legacy.

Sampa the Great, the Zambian-born, Botswanan-raised rapper who has performed at Glastonbury, Coachella, and the Sydney Opera House, has embraced Zamrock’s post-colonial energy in her forthcoming third studio album. She told the BBC that Zamrock offered “the sound of new freedom, that sound of boldness,” and that she aimed to carry that spirit forward in a project she has described as nu Zamrock. “We were looking for a sound and a voice that was so post-colonial,” she said. Her track Cant Hold Us, the lead single from the new LP, blends fuzz guitars with her defiant rap as she declares, “They don’t have the guts to match my prowess.” She envisions Zamrock as a through-line for the album, “rhythms running through everything,” and says the new material will fuse Zamrock with hip-hop and other influences.

The younger generation of Zamrock artists in Zambia is part of a broader cultural ecosystem that has begun to honor the genre’s roots while pushing it into new directions. The Zamrock Festival in Lusaka and the Modzi Arts museum are emblematic of a community actively preserving the past while encouraging experimentation. Jagari sees the current moment as a vital continuation: “The fire has been lit. It’s up to the younger generation to put more firewood to it and let the flames burn.” For him, the revival is a reminder of Zamrock’s endurance and its ability to speak across generations.

The Zamrock story—once a bold, local counterpoint to global rock—has evolved into a transcontinental dialogue about identity, memory, and the power of music to reinvent itself. Its resurgence demonstrates how archival music can become a living part of contemporary culture when artists, collectors, and fans collaborate to reframe history as ongoing discovery. As Sampa the Great and others push Zamrock into new sonic territories, the genre’s original energy—its fearless blend of tradition and experimentation—appears poised to endure in a world that increasingly seeks roots with renewed relevance.