News Brief

Sampha, Sade, Kendrick Lamar & SZA Have Been Shortlisted for the Oscars' Best Original Song Category

Here are the tracks that these amazing artists are receiving the well-deserved nod for.

As Oscar Sunday approaches on February 24, 2019, the Academy has been announcing the nominations and shortlists of who will be in the running to take home the golden statue.

The latest category to keep an eye out for is 'Best Original Song.' Sampha, Sade and Kendrick Lamar's collab with SZA have made the shortlist, The Fader reports. We'll have to wait until January to get the scoop on the final nomination.

Dive into the tracks that these amazing artists are receiving the shortlist nod for.

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Sampha "Treasure" Photo: Youtube.

Sampha’s 'Treasure' Performance Is a Collaborative Moment of Black Excellence

Reenacted on stage with some of the most emotionally-intelligent and culturally-influential black artists, "Treasure" turns into a live relationship.

Sampha's live televised performances are few and far between.

It seems like he is always silently working on something emotive and remarkable in the background. But when he finally does face the camera, the moment is heart wrenching and unforgettable. You are surrounded by his full, delicate yet unwavering voice, like walking into a dimly lit room.

Last week, he appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden, along with a flurry of some of his magnificent musical friends. Kelsey Lu, Robert Glasper, serpentwithfeet and Kamasi Washington joined Sampha on stage in a moment of beautiful, monumental harmony.

They came together to perform Sampha's latest, "Treasure," written for Beautiful Boy, the Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet film on a father-son relationship.

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Lil Wayne Samples Sampha on 'Tha Carter V' Standout 'Let It All Work Out'

The rapper uses a vocal sample from the British-Sierra Leonean singer on the album's most reflective track.

After years of immense anticipation, Lil Wayne's fifth studio album Tha Carter V is finally here.

The album—originally slated to drop in 2014— has, unsurprisingly, warranted a massive response from fans on social media, and is shaping up to be a major commercial success. It features the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Snoop Dogg, and Nicki Minaj as well as a memorable sample from British-Sierra Leonean soul singer Sampha.

READ: Lil Wayne's Influence on South African Hip Hop

The rapper samples Sampha's pensive 2013 song "Indecision," on the album's finale "Let It All Work Out," perhaps the most emotional and retrospective cut on the 23-track album. The song addresses Wayne's childhood suicide attempt. Though Wayne had previously passed the incident off as an accident, it was revealed, in a recent Billboard profile, that the recent deaths of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade, led him to open up about it.

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