Bantu | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Bantucrew, B.A.N.T.U. or Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity |
| Origin | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Genres | Afrofunk, Afrobeat, hip hop, highlife |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Soledad Productions |
| Website | www |
Bantu (stylised in all caps) is a 13-piece band based in Lagos, Nigeria. Their music is a fusion of Afrofunk, Afrobeat, highlife and Yoruba music. The group features multi-instrumentalists and singers who perform as a collective.
Nigerian-German brothers Ade Bantu and Abiodun, Sierra Leonean-German-singer Patrice and Nigerian singer Amaechi Okerenkwo founded Bantu [1] in 1996 in Cologne, Germany. BANTU is an acronym for "Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity" and according to band member Ade Bantu the name was also chosen to honour South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Bantu Biko. [2]
The band's first recording was "No Vernacular (Humber Version)" which they released on the Cologne Carnival compilation Humba 2-Fastlovend Roots in 1996. Their debut album Fufu was released in 2000 and it became an instant success in Nigeria earning them two radio hit singles: "Nzogbu" (featuring Trinidadian Rapso artist Brother Resistance) and "Fire Inna Dancehall". After the departure of Amaechi and Patrice from the band a second self-titled album Bantu featuring Jamaican drummer Sly Dunbar, Peter Tosh guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith, Positive Black Soul and Pee Froiss from Senegal was released in 2004 with Ade Bantu & Abiodun handling most of the vocal duties. [3] [4] In 2005 Bantu was awarded the Kora Awards (the Pan African equivalent of the Grammies) in the categories "Best Group West Africa" and "Best Group Africa" for their third album release Fuji Satisfaction a collaborative effort that featured Nigerian Fuji music singer Adewale Ayuba. In 2011 Bantu released their fourth studio album titled No Man Stands Alone [5] [6] an album of collaborations mostly recorded in Nigeria. The album featured Highlife music legend Fatai Rolling Dollar, Nigerian singer Sound Sultan and Nigerian-German singer Nneka amongst many others.
Since 2013, the Bantu collective has been hosting Afropolitan Vibes a monthly live music concert series and annual music festival in Lagos, Nigeria. [7] On 7 July 2017, the 13 piece Bantu collective released Agberos International . The 10 track album was produced by Aman Junaid. It features Tony Allen on drums ("Niger Delta Blues") and Nigerian spoken word poet Wana Wana ("Oni Temi"). The music on the album straddles Afrobeat, highlife, funk and hip hop, while the lyrics have been described as witty, political and satirical. [8] In September 2020 Bantu released Everybody Get Agenda, an album which has been noted to comment not only on the socio political atmosphere in Nigeria but on the entire African continent while addressing issues of urban alienation, xenophobia and migration. The album also features Seun Kuti on the song "Yeye Theory". [9]
Bantu released their seventh studio album, What Is Your Breaking Point? , in June 2023. The album featured a unique fusion of Afrobeat, Afrofunk and various Yourba musical influences. It also explored themes of post-colonial trauma, Africa's brain drain, gender oppression and social class discrimination. [10]
Bantu's broad musical scope has led to an extensive list of collaborations across all genres of music. They have recorded with the likes of British reggae group UB40, German reggae artist Gentleman, Afrobeat co-founder Tony Allen, jùjú musician Ebenezer Obey, jùjú artist Dele Ojo, highlife singer Paulson Kalu, Orlando Julius, Nigerian actor and folk singer Jimi Solanke, African China, Lord of Ajasa, Schäl Sick Brass Band, German rapper Megaloh, Afrobeat Academy Band, [11] Ghanaian duo Fokn Bois, [12] Ancient Astronauts and African-American rapper Akua Naru
In 2005, Bantu won the Kora Awards for "Best Group West Africa" and "Best Group Africa" for their album Fuji Satisfaction- Soundclash in Lagos. [13]
Bantu's single "Where Di Water" was nominated for the 2009 Channel O Music Video Awards in the category "Best Ragga Dancehall Video. [14]
"Lagos Barbie", the lead single off Bantu's Agberos International album, was nominated in the "Best Alternative Song" category at the 2018 edition of The Headies awards in Lagos, Nigeria. [15]
Afrobeat is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian and Ghanaian music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion, the style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who popularised it both within and outside Nigeria. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers."
The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music. Little of the country's music history prior to European contact has been preserved, although bronze carvings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries have been found depicting musicians and their instruments. The country's most internationally renowned genres are Indigenous, Apala, Aurrebbe music, Rara music, Were music, Ogene, Fuji, Jùjú, Afrobeat, Afrobeats, Igbo highlife, Afro-juju, Waka, Igbo rap, Gospel,Nigerian pop and Yo-pop. Styles of folk music are related to the over 250 ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments, and songs. The largest ethnic groups are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Traditional music from Nigeria and throughout Africa is often functional; in other words, it is performed to mark a ritual such as the wedding or funeral and not to achieve artistic goals. Although some Nigerians, especially children and the elderly, play instruments for their own amusement, solo performance is otherwise rare. Music is closely linked to agriculture, and there are restrictions on, for example, which instruments can be played during different parts of the planting season.
Adewale Ayuba, commonly known as Mr. Johnson, is a Nigerian singer known for singing Fuji music.
Fújì is a genre of Yoruba popular music that emerged in Nigeria in the 1960s. It evolved from the improvisational wéré music also known as ajísari (meaning "waking up for sari", performed to awaken Muslims before dawn during the fasting season of Ramadan. Fuji music was named after the Japanese stratovolcano-mountain, Mount Fuji by Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. It features energetic beats, diverse Yoruba rhythms, and call-and-response vocals. Fuji's influence extends into contemporary music, with its hooks and rhythms frequently appearing in Nigerian hip hop.
The music of West Africa has a significant history, and its varied sounds reflect the wide range of influences from the area's regions and historical periods.
Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian and French drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived". Later in life, Allen collaborated with Damon Albarn on several projects, including Gorillaz, the Good, the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & the Moon.
Yoruba music is the pattern/style of music practiced by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Togo, and Benin. It is perhaps best known for its extremely advanced drumming tradition and techniques, especially using the gongon hourglass shape tension drums. Yoruba folk music became perhaps the most prominent kind of West African music in Afro-Latin and Caribbean musical styles; it left an especially important influence on the music used in Santería practice and the music of Cuba.
Afro rock is a style of rock music with African influences. Afro rock is a dynamic interplay between Western rock music and African musical elements such as rhythm, melodies and instrumentation. Afro rock bands and artists in the late 1960s and early 1970s included Osibisa, Assagai and Lafayette Afro Rock Band.
Chopteeth is a Washington, D.C.–based afrofunk big-band. Although rooted in Fela Kuti's Nigerian afrobeat, Chopteeth's music is an amalgam of Ghanaian highlife, Senegalese rumba, Jamaican ska, Mande griot music, 1970's West African funk, Ewe dance drum rhythms, Kenyan Taita afropop, soul-funk, and jazz. Chopteeth's writing and arrangements feature unique driving syncopations, and occasional odd meters. Chopteeth vocalists sing in eight different languages including English, Nigerian Pidgin, Swahili, Wolof, Mande, Twi, Taita, and French.
Adegoke Odukoya, better known as Ade Bantu, is a Nigerian-German musician, producer and social activist who is the front man of the 13 piece band BANTU and the creator of the monthly concert series and music Festival Afropolitan Vibes which holds in Lagos, Nigeria. Ade Bantu is also the founder of the Afro-German musical collective Brothers Keepers. His band BANTU received the Kora Award for their album Fuji Satisfaction in 2005.
Sila and the Afrofunk Experience is an Afrofunk band formed in 2003.
Afropolitan Vibes is a live music concert series & annual music festival in Lagos, Nigeria. The show was created by Ade Bantu and Abby Ogunsanya in 2013 as a platform to showcase alternative music. Every edition features three or four contemporary singer/songwriters, vocalists or musicians who perform mostly original works that are firmly rooted in African musical origins of Afrobeat, Afrofunk, Afro-hiphop, Afro-pop, and Highlife. All acts perform with the 13 piece BANTU collective No miming is allowed at the shows. From 2013 to 2017 Afropolitan Vibes had a monthly residency at Freedom Park, a former British Colonial Prison on Lagos Island. In May 2017 the producers of the show announced a change of venue to Muri Okunola Park in Lagos and that the concert series would now hold every third Friday of each quarter
Abiodun Odukoya, better known as Abiodun, is a Nigerian-German singer, songwriter, producer and music arranger. Abiodun's name is of Yoruba origin and means "he who is born on a day of festivity". He is better known as the co founder of the Afro German music collective Brothers Keepers and as one of the pioneers of the German reggae, afro and soul music scene.
Fuji Satisfaction: Soundclash In Lagos is a studio album by BANTU. The album features vocal contributions by Nigerian Fuji musician Adewale Ayuba. It was recorded between April and December 2004 at various studios in Cologne, Berlin and Lagos, Nigeria. The album was released in June 2005 by Piranha Music. Producer Herb V produced the album by combining programmed beats and samples with Yoruba percussion instruments like the Sakara, Apala, Omele, Bata and Iya Ilu drums, Additional production and instrumentation was provided by the Berlin-based Afrobeat Academy Band. The Subject matter on Fuji Satisfaction deals with Pan Africanism, homophobia and Yoruba identity. The album marked a turning point for BANTU as it took them closer to their Yoruba roots. It also stretched conventional perception of Fuji music by fusing it with Hiphop, Dancehall, Afrobeat and Afrofunk elements. The album debuted at number 2 on the European World Music Charts. BANTU was awarded the Kora Awards in the categories "Best Group West Africa" and "Best Group Africa" for Fuji Satisfaction
BANTU is a self titled international debut studio album by BANTU. It was released in 2004 on Nitty Gritty Music. The album features Adé Bantu and his brother Don Abi aka Abiodun sharing lead vocal duties on all songs. The subject matter of the album centers around Pan Africanism, racism, xenophobia, love and a strong yearning for home. Most of the lyrics on BANTU are in English. A few choruses are sung in Yoruba while Pidgin English is interspersed to create a distinct Nigerian flavor. Other languages sung or rapped in by guest vocalists include Wolof, Spanish, Swahili and German. The album BANTU also features a remake of the Third World 1983 classic "Lagos Jump". The album was described by music critic Karsten Frehe as a colourful mix of Afrobeat, Pop, a little Reggae, Funk, Soul & Hip Hop
Agberos International is the 5th studio album by BANTU. The album was composed and written by all 13 members of the band. It was recorded live in Lagos, Nigeria, over six years. The title of the album Agberos International was inspired by Lagos public bus conductors known as agberos who attract customers to board their vehicles through their wild gesticulations and loud voices. The album was released on 7 July 2017 by Soledad Productions. The subject matter on Agberos International is centered around the Niger Delta crisis, oppressive Western policies and the blind African ruling class.
Fufu is the first studio album by BANTU. The album consists of collective and individual compositions by all four founding members of the group: Patrice, Amaechi Okerenkwo, Abiodun & Ade Bantu. It was released by the Nigerian music label Kennis Music. The album earned BANTU two radio hit singles in Nigeria for the songs “Nzogbu” & “Fire Inna Dancehall”
Everybody Get Agenda is the sixth studio album by Bantu, released on September 23, 2020, on Soledad Productions. Like their previous album Agberos International, this long player was composed and written by all members of the band. It was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria and mixed in Cologne, Germany. The music style is Afrofunk and Afrobeat with elements of Yoruba music, Soul, Jazz and Rap.
What Is Your Breaking Point? is the seventh studio album by Afrobeat and Afrofunk collective BANTU released on June 9, 2023, on Soledad Productions. The album features a unique fusion of Afrobeat, Afrofunk and various Yourba musical influences. It explores themes of Africa's brain drain, post colonial trauma, gender oppression and social class discrimination.
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