Bantunani and afrofunk

Biography

Bantunani alias Michel Nzau, born on March 15, 1976 in Kinshasa (DRC). Bantunani, a multidisciplinary artist, offers an eclectic mix of electro-funk, soul, reggae, rock around his native rumba and is known for his dancing skills, his voice, his stage performances and his activism. With prestigious collaborations, Bantunani has already released 11 studio albums mainly on BLACKNINJA PUBLISHING, his own label and has toured internationally. Bantunani has developed a personal style with his Afrofunk, which has often been praised by critics worldwide. Defining himself as Afropolitan, his music addresses both Africa and the Western world, as he sings in several languages. He is known as a French-Congolese singer-songwriter, producer and director. Michel Nzau was born in Ndijili, a working-class neighborhood of Kinshasa. At the age of six, he arrived in Europe with his family as a political refugee after his father became involved in the struggle against the Zairianization undertaken by Mobutu. He first went to Portugal and Italy before reaching France in December 1982. The family settled in Limoges where young Michel discovered the working class neighborhoods and communism as he would often say. From this modest childhood in the heart of the working class and immigrants, he keeps a special notion of the mix of cultures. The first notes of world music intermingled with his Congolese rumba will come from there. After a baccalaureate in economics, he first studied law at the University of Orleans, then turned to new communication technologies where he saw the future importance of multimedia and convergence. He specializes in computer security and Linux operating systems. He then founded his first company in 2002, Vizualiz, which offers key services of secure multimedia tools. In 2005, he founded his own music label Blackninja Publishing in partnership with Davout Studios whose sole mission is to develop Bantunani's artistic platform.

Discography, a dancing feather

RumbaLounge, discovering nu-rumba (2008) Africanization (2010) Acousticfear, twilight of idols (2012) Intriguing (2013) Funky Spleen (2014), mastered by Bernie Grundman Promises (2014), mastered by Bernie Grundman Injur(e) 2014, mastered by Bernie Grundman Theman (2015), mastered by Brian Gardner Groovencio, futura-volume 1 (2016), recorded and mixed at Davout Studios, mastered by Bob Katz Musicalist, 10 years of Groove (Socadisc / Nova MD) - (2018), Mastered by Bob Katz, Sefi Carmel, Big Mig MoonKinJazz (2019), recorded entirely in Kinshasa - mixed and mastered in London, Chicago and New York Perspectives (2021), recorded in confinement between Kinshasa, Casablanca, London and Paris - inspired by gnawa and trance sounds, the album is the first of the collaboration with James Auwarter Meditatives 2021 (instrumental album with 25 tracks)

Bantunani, a musical and philosophical name

Bantunani's music is full of history, that of a people and a man who makes Africa a source of inspiration for the future. The term Bantu (batu) is derived from Lingala and has three meanings, the term nani means "Who is it?" or "Who? The reference to the Bantu civilization, an artistic way to perpetuate an African history, especially Congolese, often overlooked. 2. The term Bantu also designates the human being as a whole, namely humanity. It is thus a philosophical and universal reference that Michel wants to put forward. He often claims to be a "Kibantu". 3. Plural of the word mutu (a person), the word Bantu designates the group as a set of individuals. Bantunani is therefore an insoluble question, who are we, who are the men, what is humanity?

Bantunani, activist and discreet singer In October 2009, Bantunani was one of the first artists to publicly protest against sexual violence in the Congo and the abusive exploitation of the Congolese subsoil from which the majority of the people do not benefit. The protest will find its apogee with two Parisian concerts at the Comedy Club and at the Bellevilloise, in Paris. This commitment, which denounces the violence caused by the Coltan deposits in Kivu, finds its expression in the titles ColtanRush, Kivustan and Obama a nous oublié, Kinshasa Voice. These clips are often attacked and deleted from the Youtube platform. The artist will answer that he does not make a music of Buzz According to these texts, the artist is the spokesman of his time, an audible witness of the society whose music testifies and enlightens the minds. It is thus an activist in the service of peace who wants to make dance differently. In 2019, Bantunani creates in Kinshasa with his wife an educational structure La Lettre Française whose mission is the improvement of exchanges in the French-speaking world. He advocates a happy and creole francophonie that also respects indigenous languages. He worked with the French Embassy in the DRC to help "Chegué" children (street children) so that they could have access to the minimum schooling and food.

Instigator of Nu Rumba, source of Afrofunk

At the crossroads of African and black American music, like a missing link between Fela Kuti and James Brown, this musical current revives an acoustic style freed from the world music shackles. Within nu-rumba, the song born with the first album RumbaLounge, discovering nu rumba (2008), the genre has evolved a lot without losing its initial will to make people dance through styles and times. In 2010, when the album Africanization was released, the young Bantu said he was devastated by the death of his grandmother and the death of Michael Jackson. A certain darkness runs through the 15 tracks that Michel, freed from the guardianship of his musicians, now polishes in the solitude of the nights of Ménilmontant. He wants a less festive groove, more focused on awareness and urban sounds. Africanization is full of mystical and cosmogonic references. The work, prophetic, is clearly influenced by the universe of Wu-Tan Clan, Gil Scott Heron or Curtis Mayfield. The tracks Blackninja, suicideMood illustrate this unlikely meeting of afrogroove with the guitars of Blaxploitation. Upon its release, the album opened the doors of mainstream radio (Nova, France Inter, RFI, BBC World and Canal +). The titles Coltanrush and Blackninja meet a huge success.

In 2012, Michel changes his drummer and guitarist to lead a secret project for 6 months in the Davout A studios. With Acousticfear, he proposes to democratize and share his passion for Nietzsche by setting to music some of the philologist's works. He works with the artist Djo Calmant who will sign the cover and the booklet of the album. Together, they imagine a futuristic apocalyptic universe reflecting the twilight of the idols. Michel will write for this afropop opera 25 tracks but will keep only 16. Thus each title benefits from a visual and a subtitle inspired by the work of Nietzsche and Thomas Hardy. With this album, the artist reaches a certain freedom, a maturity in the writing which from now on confers him a certain fame. Five tracks will be ranked in the charts: Unplugme, Mapworld, Murder in the City, Rumba is dead, She is gone. At the end of 2013 comes out the new album Intriguing ( Rocknbe). Composed of 15 new tracks mainly written during the European tour Acoustictour. Michel wants to further push the concept of fusion and go towards more rock sounds, give a major place to synths and string instruments in order to find a hard and melancholic groove. The particularity of this album lies in the participation of all the sound engineers of the Davout studios, even if Jean-Loup Morette remains at the helm, the styles blend together to the point of giving a very eclectic sound. Intriguing speaks of the complexity of a world that escapes all control, the individual must be strong and master of his destiny. Michel marries a casualness in his singing, the guitars arrive like bullets against the established order. The album is a resounding success with the single "Kivustan", "Obamaforgotus" and "American Law" which will break records of audience and views. The clips will be censored several times by Youtube. Michel thus prolongs his fight started with Coltanrush and defends himself from making a committed music. He speaks then more of a conscience. The polemic will be so strong that it will leave traces in the communication of Bantunani who fiercely refuses the big media.

The Man, first album signed under his real name, Michel Nzau. The tireless pen, he delivers in 2015 a double album marked soul and very romantic. As the title suggests, The Man, the man gives himself up and confides a little more. The live and fiery energy of Bantunani fades, the time of a very lounge musical introspection. Between Paris and Berlin, the young Bantu becomes an Afropolitan, standard-bearer of an African youth registered in the dynamics of the globalized world and resolutely turned towards the future. Through 20 tracks of confidences, the artist marries the themes of his time. The vindictive groove has given way to the search for lost time which is easily felt in the tracks. The rhythm is soft, the downtempo beat imposes itself. The guitars become muffled in an electro-urban atmosphere where one believes to hear the Berlin night and its "Bad-Cave". We will note the first collaboration with Bernie Grundman and Brian Gardner (Big Bass), the two legends of mastering (Dr.Dre, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Quincy Jones). We will note the impact of the titles: TheMan, Funky Spleen, Injur, Jazz'n spell.

Always so prolific, 2016 is shaping up to be the psychedelic-pop year of Bantunani if we believe the first productions resulting from the collaboration with Bob Katz, the company PSI audio and the famous Godin guitars of which he will become a representative. Many times announced, the album Groovencio appears in 3 volumes, the first of which Futura was released on September 5, 2016 with 5 new tracks: SmoothLie, The Dove, Sleeping in the dark, Groove Brother, Look Back. From afrofunk to psychegroove: Groovencio - In 2016, breaking away from fed productions, Bantunani takes a minimalist turn relying more on an urban beat, heavy bass and exposed vocals where the vocals, very narrative express the truth of the man. Michel reveals a more psychedelic phase and pop rock inspirations, far from the funk and r&b traditions in which he was often enrolled. Musicalist - 2018 marks the return of a very urban and dancefloor groove with the album, Musicalist. Michel teams up with the young Colombian mixer / DJ BigMig (Miguel Bénavidès) for the overall realization of the Musicalist project. Together they want to democratize the basics of Afrofunk and embrace more disco rhythms. They print some signs of EDM music. It is then that the titles Passion Gone, Passion Lost and Mystic Boogie appear, whose impact is immediate. But this year also sees the release on the label of the group "Les Mininanis" composed of Michel's three children: Matteo, Térence and Maria. Les Mininanis is an electro pop funk band composed of the three children of the artist Bantunani. For nearly 8 years, they have been evolving in the shadow of their father's productions. Student of the music school of Pontaudemer, INA (Kinshasa), Ecole Normale de Mer sultan (Casablanca- Morocco), conservatory of Orleans since 2020, they make a synthesis between the oral and written teaching of the music. We find Matteo on piano - bass, Terence on drums - guitar and Maria on viola and vocals. Faithful to the family tradition, they propose a dancing groove at the crossroads of styles. Their single with the eponymous title "The Mininanis" was a big success on TV and radio. Produced and mixed by Michel Nzau and Théau Rogérie (The dude) from Davout Studios.

Moonkinjazz, a big step towards the Congo

Moonkinjazz, an inspiration named Congo Beyond Rumba, Moonkinjazz, Bantunani's new album, is much more than an album: it is a current, a cultural phenomenon to the point that one even speaks of the bantunanization of the spirits that is taking hold of Kinshasa. Bantunani has always distinguished itself by a conscious and committed music for which it has long been criticized. We remember the tracks Coltan Rush and Kivustan which denounce violence against women as a weapon of war. After almost 40 years of exile, he returns to his native country with a strong message that advocates a renewed and revitalized Congo. His character of bohemian cowboy who roams the streets of Kinshasa is transformed into a Dandy Dancer on stage for the great pleasure of the Kinshasa public. It is in fact a true aesthetic and spiritual meeting between a people passionate about concepts and novelty and an artist. One thinks of the title Taxi Driver where the daily life is sublimated, magnified, making the cry of the receivers "Gambela Bumbu Selembao" a lyrical refrain. A Memory of the Congo that makes the streets of the dirt to a city of the Wild West or a Moonkinjazz that seems to have been shot in a New York factory. Bantunani invents his promised land, MoonKinJazz, one of his countless fictional worlds made of music and wandering. Self-portrait of a bohemian African, his groove feeds on elementary and cosmic particles. The man wants to be a gypsy, a lonely cowboy who sings about a world in mutation. Conceived entirely in Kinshasa, the rhythm becomes infernal like this crazy city where day and night merge. An explorer of his time and space, Bantu, drawing on his sources, tries to depict the lightning laughter and boastful insults, the heads of the vendors, the yellow cabs buzzing in this hive that never sleeps. The composition is more spontaneous, just like the jam that the artist particularly likes.MoonKinJazz is an album whose musical magic is based on this mixture of genres and eras. His Afrofunk continues to evolve on the 16 tracks: borrowings from soul, funk, disco and even Fado, as on the track Fadospell, express once again his desire for encounter and fusion. With MoonKinjazz, we continue the dance between melancholy and reflection. He is the man who walks and dances on Kinshasa. Recorded entirely in his studios in Kinshasa, Bantunani invites artists from all walks of life, from the Kinshasa underground scene to established stars. This 10th opus is hard-hitting and relevant. The guitar is always at the top of the mix alongside its rival the bass and its partner the drums which are the pen and the brushes of the music lover. The music plays with styles on a background of afro beat very modernized, jazz and funky notes slip here and there in this machine to dance. The journey is nocturnal, the night rubs shoulders with the day in a Kinshasa in full mutation, from the very sensual Pesa Ye to the dizzying chorus of receivers on Taxi Driver. This album comes after the success of the album Musicalist, which will have definitively established Bantunani as a star of the groove and the scene, with nearly 35 000 sales. Recorded entirely in his studios in Kinshasa, Bantunani invites artists from all walks of life, from the Kinshasa underground scene to established stars.

Perspectives, grimace and misery

Perspectives, (grimace and misery) - new album 2021 (the Moroccan temptation) Indefatigable and insatiable music lover, Bantunani experienced the confinement of the covid between Kinshasa, Paris and Casablanca as an artistic opportunity where the artist can, far from the constraints of marketing, nourish his creativity.deprived of musicians, he had to compose with his eternal companions, his 3 children, whose training accelerated to learn all the rudiments of the production. The album Perspectives, subtitled (grimaces and misery is born in this period. The album will be composed of 16 tracks, some of which are co-produced and arranged with the Maleem Abdenbi el Meknessi and the musicians of the Conservatory Mel Sultan of Casablanca. Bantunani announces it for November/December 2020. In September, still in Casablanca he launched the two new singles from this next opus. It's Casablanca, a jazz-flavored electro swing that describes the insurmountable spleen of Sunday when the music of Saturday night is still buzzing. At the time of writing, the track is already in rotation on nearly 65 radio stations. As usual with Bantunani, one track hides another. The public also discovers the track Another Place where sadness gives way to the color and joy of childhood. True hymn to childhood, this song mixed and mastered by the famous Sefi Carmen is an incredible cocktail of musical fusion with an unforgettable melody ...

External links

Libération France InterBantunani on France Inter Jeune Afrique RFI, special Bantunani TV5 Monde Qobuz BBC with Bantunani LeMatin ( Maroc) L'observateur du Maroc et de l'Afrique RTS Suisse avec Bantunani Medi1tv, Bantunani and afrofunk in Morocco Rond Point du Jazz, Cd of the week Fance24 with Bantunani La Republique du Centre, rencontre avec Bantunani

References

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