“BCUC will come correct with their energetic, unique and
magic formula; the voices of their ancestors, mixed with funk, punk-rock
vibrations, hip-hop, Fela-inflections and much more in between.” Gilles
Peterson, BBC Radio 6 Music/Worldwide FM
A stone’s throw from the church where Desmond Tutu organised
the escape of the most wanted anti-Apartheid activists of Soweto, BCUC
rehearses in a shipping container-turned-community restaurant, where their
indomitable outspokenness echoes in a whole new way.
Make no mistake, this buzzing township has lost none of the
creative, rebellious energy it had when the “Rainbow Nation”, with its now
less-than-vibrant colours, emerged twenty years ago. Like its elders, Bantu
Continua Uhuru Consciousness sees its music as a hedonistic trance, but also as
a weapon of political and spiritual liberation.
The seven-piece band has been mesmerising audiences both
locally and globally with its indigenous funk and high-energy performances that
have fast made it one of South Africa’s most successful musical exports.
Artistic heirs to Philip “Malombo” Tabane and Batsumi, they seek to give a
contemporary voice to the ancestral traditions of indigenous peoples. Jazz
sounds of 1970s and ‘80s productions have been replaced by hip-hop influences
and a punk-rock energy.
With new album ‘EMAKHOSINI’, to be released April 20th in
the U.S. via Buda Musique, BCUC take the listener on an intriguing epic
journey, sharing their controversial yet interesting views on modern Africa.
They tackle the harsh realities of the voiceless, especially the plight of the
uneducated workers at the bottom of the social food chain. BCUC taps into the
elusiveness of the spirit world of ancestors by which they are inspired. The
Africa portrayed by BCUC is not poor, but rich in tradition, rituals and
beliefs.
Recorded at Back To Mono studios in Lyon, France in the
summer of 2017, the band’s music derives from a blend of genres across the ages
and they draw inspiration from indigenous music that is not exposed in the
mainstream. The music refuses to be formatted and that’s the essence of
“Africangungungu”, the name they’ve given to their “afropsychedelic” music.
Their “incantations” in Zulu, Sotho and English and their funky modulations
extend over twenty minutes in a whirlwind of sound reminiscent of Fela’s
Afrobeat. “We bring fun and emo-indigenous Afro psychedelic fire from the
hood,” says vocalist Kgomotso Mokone.
BCUC’s willingness to look at social and identity questions
in the face has already led to the banning of one song from their only
self-produced EP, which points the finger at a national idol. But neither this
event, nor the criticism to which they are exposed by their refusal to belong
to a specific movement, can change their minds. “Music for the people by the
people with the people” – a people they
refuse to box into one community, to circumscribe to one skin colour.
BCUC toured Europe extensively in 2017 with an unforgettable
performance at the Roskilde Festival, Denmark alongside the likes of Foo
Fighters and A Tribe Called Quest. They were also the highlight of Gilles
Peterson’s Worldwide Festival, receiving critical acclaim for their performance
with their hypnotic afro-psychedelia.
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