“We Have Internalized the Projections of Racist Europe” – Ade Bantu
Ade Bantu is the front man of the musical collective known as Bantu (also known as Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity). His music is an eclectic fusion of the rich cultural heritage of the Yorubas and the sounds of the African Diaspora. His debut album “Bantu” featured Senegalese Hip-hop veterans P.B.S; and his collaboration with the Nigerian Fuji star Adewale Ayuba titled “Fuji Satisfaction”, earned him two nods at the 2005 edition of the prestigious Kora Award. Bantu’s positive lyrics address social, personal and political issues and his work with the Afro-German NGO and musical group, Brothers Keepers, topped the German Pop Charts through their uncompromising stance against racism. Bantu now performs with his Afrobeat Academy Band, an ensemble that celebrates Fela Kuti’s musical vision in a unique and exciting way. Their live performances have been described as a soundtrack to the Pan African Renaissance Movement. Bantu, a BSc Electronic Engineering holder, has toured Nigeria, Sweden, England, Germany, Uganda, Ghana, Denmark and France. He has shared the stage with several musical greats such as Tony Allen, Dede Mabiaku, Seun Kuti and the legendary Egypt 80 band; and has collaborated with UB40, Gentleman, Xavier Naidoo, Sly Dunbar and Patrice. Jamati had the chance to have the following interview with Ade Bantu.
How would you describe Bantu as an artiste? Read more »
Bantu is a grenzgaenger. He is a pan Africanist. I am an “Afropean”, Yoruba-Prussian musician, producer, singer/songwriter and activist, who uses music to explore and celebrate his urban African musical and cultural heritage.
Lemar Obika – The Truth About Love
Lemar Obika is a very talented young man with a fantastic vocal range. He manages to sing and easily moves from one note to another. He sings his heart out and you feel the heartstrings get that aching tug as his voice soars in The Truth About Love. Tick Tock merges an old beat with his vocals and makes even the old heads want to dance. Just Can’t Live Without Each Other’s Love talks about love in it’s true form, without the fear, just the reality of what one can live with and without. In Can’t You See, Lemar teams up with Mica Paris and Styles P to produce something that sounds somewhat old school.
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Jaqee – Novelle D’Amour
Jaqee is a Ugandan musician based in Sweden who has won several awards and has a large following in Sweden. Her first album, Blaqalixious, was a collaboration between her and her childhood friend, Kiboy a.k.a. Wawesh. The album had a heavy rotation on the airwaves, earned her a Grammy nomination, and won her a Manifest award.
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Bamboo – East Africa’s Hiphop King
Bamboo is recognized as one of the most talented rappers on the African hiphop circuit. His song, ‘Bumaye’, highlights the life of Muhammed Ali, and another song made it into the soundtrack of the movie, ‘Primeval’.
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Chameleone – There’s no camouflaging his talent.
Joseph Mayanja is a hip-hop and ragga musician from Uganda who is known by his stage name, Jose Chameleone, or just Chameleone. Chameleone’s musical style is a combination of Ugandan folk music, dancehall, central African rumba, zouk and ragga.
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David Mensah – Crooning into the big time
Jamati: You have shared a stage with Beverly Knight, Alexander O’Neal, Jimmy Cliff, Damage, and Teish O’Day. What was it like to share the stage with such musical heavyweights? Did any of them help improve your style and make it what it is today?
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Ahmed Soultan – Tolerance
Ahmed Soultan is a Moroccan musician who sings in English, French, and Arabic. The influence of his home, Morocco, and the place he grew up in, France, seep throughout the his album, Tolerance. It merges these three languages and their associated cultures into a great mix of soulful music with a hint of African rhythm.
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Top 5 Most Recognized African Songs
It is now the end of the year and we are looking at the top 5 most recognized African songs that have ever come out. The obvious limitations to the list are somewhat obvious….some songs were never put on video, so while they were popular, they don’t make the list. The only criteria is that they should have been popular on more than one continent. Here we go.
Fally Ipupa – Ndombolo never looked so good!
Fally Ipupa is a strong performer from the Democratic Republic of Congo who worked with the legendary Koffi Olomide in his group, Quatier Latin, before branching out on his own. His performances are energetic, his delivery unsurpassable. Female fans love to watch as he whips his songs to new heights in time to his swiveling hips (part of the reason he made the top ten sexiest men list). The mix of rhumba, reggae, soul and ndombolo have proven to be his magical elixir. He has performed to sold out audiences in Paris and New York and continues to gain recognition internationally for his music.
His awards include the Césaire de la Musique award for best male artist of the year (October 2007); he received a gold disc for his album, Droit Chemin, and has been nominated for best music clip, and best artist in the Black Music Awards to be held in Coutonou, Benin on January 12, 2008. Droit Chemin, produced by Maïka Munan (who has worked with famous Congolese musicians such as Tabu Ley Rochereau, M’Bilia Bel, Papa Wemba, Afia Mala), has been received with accolades and is extremely popular with his fans. The video is well done and features several ndombolo moves. One wonders how long it will be before his moves show up on a hiphop video as the next big move.
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Sara Tavares – Balancê
Balancê means something good in Lusophone Africa, and this album lives up to its name. Sara Tavares, born to Cape Verde parents in Portugal, has been making musical waves since she was 16 years old when she won two of Portugal’s most prestigious TV music contests. Her exposure to two cultures is reflected in the rhythms and the tone of her music. She tries to balance the different styles of Afro-Euro culture into something palatable, and does a great job. Planetra Sukri has a lilting latin feel to it while One Love is more African/Congolese in it’s rhythm. Balancê is a song about balancing yourself and its wonderful samba/salsa style that is surprisingly soothing. Overall the album manages to achieve its goal of being a balance of cultural styles. Songs are sung in English, Portuguese, and Criulo (a Cape Verdean dialect which mixes French and Portuguese and local languages). The album went Gold in Portugal, and she has been touring the world promoting it since its launch in 2006. Her appearance in the globalFest 2007 was met with great excitement and garnered many new fans for her. This talented songstress wrote and produced all the songs on the album.
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