''BANTU'' is a self titled international debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

BANTU Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

. It was released in 2004 on Nitty Gritty Music. The album features

Adé Bantu Adegoke Odukoya, better known as Ade Bantu (born 14 July 1971 in Wembley, London), is a Nigerian-German musician, producer and social activist who is the front man of the 13 piece band BANTU and the creator of the monthly concert series and musi ...

and his brother Don Abi aka Abiodun sharing lead vocal duties on all songs. The subject matter of the album centers around Pan Africanism, racism, xenophobia, love and a strong yearning for home. Most of the lyrics on BANTU are in English. A few choruses are sung in Yoruba while Pidgin English is interspersed to create a distinct Nigerian flavor. Other languages sung or rapped in by guest vocalists include Wolof, Spanish, Swahili and German. The album BANTU also features a remake of the

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

1983 classic "Lagos Jump". The album was described by music critic Karsten Frehe as a colourful mix of Afrobeat, Pop, a little Reggae, Funk, Soul & Hip Hop

Recording and production

The album BANTU was recorded over a two-year period with various producers based in Germany (the only exception being "Omowale" which was produced by Mbegane N'dour in Paris). Production duties where handled by Rub Nuca ("ile"), Beatschmieda ("Lagos Jump", "One Vibe One Flow pt.2"), Trulaikes ("Watchout", "Blood A Go Run"), Pionear ("Temperature's Boiling") and BANTU band member Don Abi ("Dance To My Boogie", "No More No Vernacular", "How Many MC's", "Me, You & The Moonlight"). The production style of the album is a combination of programmed beats, samples and live instruments played by studio musicians notably amongst them are Jamaican drummer

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...

and Peter Tosh guitarist

Earl "Chinna" Smith Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, ''Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...

who both feature on the song "Omowale". Guests vocalists include African Rap pioneers

Positive Black Soul Positive Black Soul (also known as PBS) is a hip hop group based in Dakar, Senegal, one of the first such collectives in the country. Founded in 1989, the group is composed of Didier Sourou Awadi (alias DJ Awadi) and Amadou Barry (alias Doug E. ...

and

Pee Froiss Pee Froiss is a hip hop group formed in Dakar, Senegal in 1993. It was originally produced by another hip hop group from that city, Positive Black Soul, and since recorded with the duo. The band's music is rapped in Wolof, French, and English ...

from Senegal on "One Vibe One Flow Pt.2", Sami Sosa who raps in German on "How Many MC's", Kenyan-Rwandan sisters Sonia & Priti Kaitesi handling lead or chorus duties on ("No More No Vernacular", "Blood A Go Run", "Temperature's Boiling" & "Me, You & The Moonlight") and Cuban singer Mirta Junco Wambrug ("Add Subtract"). The album Introduced "The Sound Of Fufu" a term coined by Adé Bantu to classify BANTU's genre of music which is a combination of Hiphop, Dancehall and Afrofunk elements The Sound of Fufu Adé Bantu
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Track listing

#Lagos Jump 3:29 (Clark/Cooper/Daley/Jarrett/Schloss/S.Steward/W.Steward) #Dance To My Boogie 3:52 (Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya) #No More No Vernacular 4:37 (Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya) #Omowale 4:09 (Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya) #Add Subtract 3:46 (Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya/Mirta Junco Wambrug) #Ilé 4:57 (Robert Nacken/Adegoke Odukoya) #Temperature's Boiling 4:24 (D.Kaitesi/T.Kaitesi/Leander Topp/Adegoke Odukoya) #One Vibe One Flow (part 2.) 4:34 (Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya/ Ibrahima Loucard/Didier Awadi/Beatschmieda) #Watchout 4:34 (Adegoke Odukoya/Nils Wenzler) #How Many MC's 4:05 (Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya/Sami Stein) #Blood A GO Run 4:39 (D.Kaitesi/T.Kaitesi/Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya) #Me, You & The Moonlight 4:58 (Abiodun Odukoya/Adegoke Odukoya)

Musicians

Ade Bantu – Lead vocals, Backing vocals
Don Abi aka Abiodun – Lead vocals, Backing vocals
Mirta Junco Wambrug – lead vocals, Backing vocals
Daniella Sonia Kaitesi – lead vocals, Backing vocals
Tesiree Priti Kaitesi – lead vocals, Backing vocals
Sami Sosa - Rap

- Rap

- Rap
Carlos Robalo - Backing vocals
Blain Paulos - Backing vocals
Reiner Witzel - Saxophone & Flute
Sebi Duwelt - Keyboards
Bernd Keul - Bass
Manougazou - Guitar
Sly Dunbar - Drums
Earl "Chinna" Smith - Guitar
Donald Dennis - Keyboards, Bass
Tunji Beier - Talking drum, Percussion
Joseph Kirschgen - Drums
Florain Beckman - Trumpet
Domee - Scratches

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Bantu (band) albums