THERE is something unique about our Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as Zimbabweans. Believe you me, next time you hear someone saying Zim artists or artists/creatives of Zimbabwean descendancy are making waves globally, don’t act so astonished. We got this on lock, okay!
Remember Bantu? Or must I say ever heard of Bantu?
Let me save you the time to pillage all the edges of the web: Bantu, real name Tinashe Sibanda is a Zimbabwean producer, songwriter, and singer based in Los Angeles, USA. He surfaced on the landscape in 2016 with the single “Holiday,” an uptempo love song that fused bright electronic club sounds with African rhythms.
An adroit student of the culture, the Grammy-nominated creator has written, produced and collaborated with world superstars as big as Jason Derulo, Maroon 5, J Balvin, Camila Cabello, Rita Ora, Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj and DaniLeigh, among others.
Now fortified with all that experience, Bantu is back on the scene with the release of his infectious new single “Leaving”.
The song expresses a common issue that people face in love while trying to achieve peaks of success. Bantu doesn’t have the time to pay full attention to his woman because his mind is so wrapped up in what’s going on. Well, because women instinctively want to feel men’s love and attention, his lover wants to leave, cause he just isn’t doing enough.
The video, co-directed by Bantu and his frequent collaborator James Davis II, shows the lady packing up and getting ready to be on her way, however, he convinces her to stay and give him more of a chance with sweet bars and roses. Nay, it is pointless because Bantu falls back in his same tendencies, spending more time on the phone while pushing her away.
Speaking to Wonderland on the release of the video, Bantu said the song was inspired by the familiar story of not knowing what you wield until it’s gone and that he wanted to create a one-take style flick, painting a raw and honest picture of a moment where everything’s on the line.
“I wrote this song with friend and frequent collaborator Johnny Yukon. The story for this song was inspired by the idea of losing somebody special. I think sometimes we get complacent and only realize how much somebody means to us when they say they are out. So the whole time in the song I’m like, ‘Man, I was tripping, my bad, I’ve just been hustling and didn’t mean to hurt you. For this video, we wanted to make a one-take style video. Really paint the picture of that moment when your girl’s had enough and say she’s leaving and you’re begging her to stay. It’s a fun, colourful, relatable video,” Bantu explained.
Bantu recently performed the song at the FIFA 21 World Premiere virtual festival where he shared stage with artists like Dua Lipa and Diplo.
Leaving will feature on the game’s illustrious soundtrack, and will register a second time Bantu has created a song for the gaming community. In 2018, Bantu and Philip “Pip” Kembo also known as Dr Chaii (yet another Zim artist) released the viral “Jackie Chan” and it was featured on FIFA 19.
As a frequent Bantu fan, I’m glad to hear him over good production. This cannot be stated enough. There is a word that the song might be harbingering his upcoming album with the same title. This song gives me hope for the album by itself.
“Leaving” is available on all major streaming platforms.
