Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness
The overall ethos of the band seems to be: any difficultly, no matter how horrendous and unjust, should be met with as much positivity and energy as it is possible to muster.
Midway through their blistering, inspiring set on Wednesday night, Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness’ (BCUC) frontman Nkosi “Jovi” Zithulele makes reference to the band speaking to the audience, ‘not as our colonisers’ but as ‘our comrades’. If the reminder of this country’s shocking colonial legacy seems jarring, it only highlights the necessity of the point being made.
BCUC are a seven-piece band from Soweto; they formed in 2003 and sing in all eleven of the official languages of South Africa. Their bandcamp bio references them drawing ‘inspiration from Indigenous music that is not exposed to the mainstream. We sing ritual songs, shebeen songs and church songs infused with raps and a rock and roll attitude’ before explaining that the sound they are aiming for is ‘timeless, honest and traditional/ritualistic’.
It's an ambition easily achieved in an assured and exhilarating performance. This is genuinely moving, consciousness raising stuff, achieved through an incredible unity of purpose and focussing of energy: the band consists of three drummers, three singers and a bass player, and from the start it’s clear this is going to be a searing performance. Jovi arrives on stage wearing shorts and t-shirt, carrying three water bottles and a large towel; towards the end of a phenomenal, relentless set he begins tucking his various lanyards and whistles into his t-shirt. Shortly afterwards the reason for this becomes clear: he’s going to do a few press-ups while the band churns deliriously on. Energy levels as high as this are infectious and generate their own momentum.
The overall ethos of the band seems to be: any difficultly, no matter how horrendous and unjust, should be met with as much positivity and energy as it is possible to muster. Most musical experiences as intense as this one send me on a quest to listen to more of the band’s music – and I have certainly done this with BCUC – but tellingly, they’ve also inspired me to research my country’s colonial past, and to question why I continue to remain so ignorant of so much of it.
