BCUC

Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC), the 2023 Womex Artist Award winners and seven-piece sensation from Soweto fuse indigenous rhythms with punk rock energy and spiritual fervor, they take you on a mesmerizing journey through modern Africa, sharing powerful narratives and electrifying performances that have captivated audiences worldwide.

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. 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 give contemporary voice to the ancestral traditions of indigenous peoples. Jazz sounds of 1970s and ‘80s productions replaced by hip-hop influences and punk-rock energy, taking 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.

“We bring fun and emo-indigenous Afro psychedelic fire from the hood,” says vocalist Kgomotso Mokone.

The past few years were incredible, seeing them collaborate with legends like Femi Kuti and Saul Williams and play the cream of European festivals including Glastonbury, Roskilde, Dour, Worldwide, Womad, Fusion, Rudolstadt, Sziget, FMM Sines, Beaches Brew, Boomtown, Colours of Ostrava, Couleur Café, etc.