Years active 1999-present Website www.bantucrew.com | Labels Soledad Productions Origin Lagos, Nigeria | |
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Also known as Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity Genres Afrobeat, Hip hop music, Highlife Similar Adé Bantu, Brothers Keepers, Fatai Rolling Dollar, Temi Dollface, Yinka Davies | ||
BANTU is a 13-piece band based in Lagos, Nigeria. Their music is a fusion of Afrobeat, Hiphop, Afrofunk, Highlife and Yoruba music. The group features multi-instrumentalists and singers who perform as a collective.
Contents
History
Nigerian-German brothers Ade Bantu & Abiodun, Sierra Leonean-German-singer Patrice and Nigerian singer Amaechi Okerenkwo founded Bantu 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. The band’s first recording was "No Vernacular (Humber Version)" which they released on the Cologne Carnival compilation HUMBA 2 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. In 2005 Bantu was awarded the Kora Awards (the Pan African equivalent of the Grammies) in the categories “Best Group West Africa” & “Best Group Africa” for their third album release “Fuji Satisfaction- Soundclash In Lagos” a collaborative effort that featured Nigerian Fuji music singer Adewale Ayuba. In 2011 Bantu released their fourth studio album titled “No Man Stands Alone” 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 a monthly live music concert series Afropolitan Vibes at Freedom Park, a former colonial prison in Lagos Island.
Collaborations
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, Juju artist Dele Ojo, Highlife singer Paulson Kalu, Nigerian actor and folk singer Jimi Solanke, Schäl Sick Brass Band and the Berlin-based Afrobeat Academy Band.
Awards and nominations
BANTU was awarded the Kora Awards in the categories “Best Group West Africa” & “Best Group Africa” for their album “Fuji Satisfaction- Soundclash In Lagos” in 2005 in Durban, South Africa.
BANTU's single "Where Di Water" was nominated for the 2009 Channel O Music Video Awards in the category "Best Ragga Dancehall Video