BANTU

The 13-piece band BANTU, remains more than two decades after its founding, without exception, one of the premier live outfits and conceptual recording artists in Africa, Europe and indeed globally. Driven by a strong desire for social justice BANTU’s music as well as lyrics have from the start addressed issues around corruption, injustice, migration, xenophobia and urban alienation – whether in Germany and Europe, or Nigeria and Africa. Asides from recording and composing music BANTU have been credited with the recent revival of the live music scene in Nigeria through Afropolitan Vibes a monthly concert series & music festival that they have been hosting for over most of the last decade in Lagos. The show has featured over 190 top Nigerian and international acts and was voted as “one of the world's best music events of the moment" by The Village Voice. Unlike most bands of old and today, which are clearly centred on the star vocalist, BANTU is distinguished by its unmistakably collective, collaborative nature. When you have a band this strong, this tight where everyone gets to shine, magic happens. And with their new album, What is Your Breaking Point?, the third in a genre- and era-defining trilogy of releases including 2017’s Agberos International and 2020’s Everybody Get Agenda, the band’s new album pushes the boundaries of funkiness and political prowess even further than its predecessors. Formed as an acronym of Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity (BANTU) by brothers Ade Bantu and Abiodun in Germany in 1996 the group has created a unique and immediately recognizable fusion of Afrobeat, Afrofunk & Yoruba music. From its first release, “No Vernacular” in 1996 to the present, BANTU has scored a series of hits across Europe and Africa garnering itself major awards. Indeed, the list of artists who've collaborated with BANTU is a testament to the power, originality and talent of the band: an international cornucopia including UB40, Tony Allen, Patrice, Brothers Keepers (which they created), Xavier Naidoo, Akua Naru, Gentleman, Seun Kuti and Burna Boy just to name a few. These collaborations helped the band earn several major Continental awards, including the Kora Awards (the Pan African equivalent of the Grammys) for “Best Group West Africa” and “Best Group Africa” while securing others nominations such as the Channel O Music Video Awards and The Headies. Their album Everybody Get Agenda further cemented BANTU’s status with its top-5 placement in the European World Music charts for 2020. Since then, and despite the global Covid pandemic, BANTU managed to record and perform with famed Ghanaian alt-hip hop duo Fokin Bois, German rapper Megaloh, and the celebrated German Afrobeat and Funk-Jazz outfit Muito Kaballa. BANTU will be touring Europe this summer and promoting their new album What Is Your Breaking Point? Which is scheduled for release in June 2023.