BANTU Crew continues its trail of consciousness and activism on ‘Everybody Get Agenda’ [Album Review]

From your first encounter with BANTU Crew, you would realize that music is its foundation. It didn’t stumble upon music, music is fundamental to the existence of its members. Combining tents of African music with Bongos, Calypso Flavours and avant-garde percussion, Bantu feels like a cross-section between Femi Kuti, Lagbaja and Fela.

To them, it’s not just about making music. Music must mean something bigger and tell stories that are bigger than itself. Embodying Africa means speaking its truth through the music. This follows the template laid down by Fela, Youssou N’dour, Mariam Makeba and more. The music is so African, the album’s title is pidgin.

Their latest album, Everybody Get Agenda is another gallant melange of socio-political activism. While other artists also highlight the problems like gloss of mold, BANTU Crew discusses the key problems. On ‘Animal Carnival,’ they discuss how a snake supposedly ‘swallowed’ N36 million.

On the militant ‘Disrupt The Programme,’ the discuss the murder in Ekiti State while providing solutions, “By any means necessary.” On ‘Me, Myself and I,’ they discussed the interrelation between the rot in Nigerian leadership and its link to the blase, perpetually unbothered and individualistic tendency of the average Nigerian.

All the while, the music is rich in guitars and horns. Sometimes, the delivery comes by way of Hip-Hop/Rap-fusion as on ‘Water Cemetery.’ The song’s title itself is a metaphor for the perpetual lack of peace and stability in Nigeria. Other songs on the EP follow this mould.

However, ‘Jagun Jagun’ finds a deep percussive root in traditional Yoruba folk music and stands out as the best song on Everybody Get Agenda. Lyrically, it also represents a slight shift from the critical, activist theme of this album. And that electric guitar solo is reminiscent of 70’s Rock n’ Roll to underline the musical savvy of BANTU.

While the music and socio-political activism is what BANTU is all about, the album does get topically stagnant at some point. Equally, Ade’s delivery has never been the smoothest and it’s still not smooth, but the substance he speaks overhauls every desire for perfect delivery.

Ratings: /10

• 0-1.9: Flop

• 2.0-3.9: Near fall

• 4.0-5.9: Average

• 6.0-7.9: Victory

• 8.0-10: Champion

Pulse Rating: /10

Tracklist: 1.8/2

Substance and Delivery: 1.5/2

Production: 1.7/2

Enjoyability and Satisfaction: 1.5/2

Execution: 1.5/2