B.C.U.C. + Deejay Theory

BCUC is the new sound of Soweto. It got started just a stone’s throw from Desmond Tutu’s home, in the township of 1.3 million souls that was once the epicenter of the anti-apartheid movement. Their “ancient to the future” sound is a next-century mash-up of township music, shebeen (bar) music, church music, gospel, punk, and rock and roll. “We are descended from tribes who use music as therapy” lead singer Nkosi "Jovi" Zithulele says. “Since 2003 we have wanted to be a band that would change the way people think about music from Africa.”

BCUC’s live shows are transcendent rites of explosive sound. Their dancefloor Afrofuturism heals and commands in propulsive jams that rebalance bodies and souls, awakening crowds to the power of a shared, fairer future. The band has been blowing up stages in Europe on a regular basis for a while now – from Roskilde to Glastonbury, WOMAD to Le Guess Who – and they’re in such high demand that getting over the Atlantic is rare and often delayed. This 21st century township music builds on the spiritual legacy of artists like Fela Kuti, but inherits just as much from artists like Kendrick Lamar, Tribe Called Quest, and Mick Jagger. It is Ladysmith Black Mambazo gone Afropunk with bass and drums.

Deejay Theory starts the night off with a set of Amapiano – a South African subgenre of African house music with jazz and lounge influences that is blowing up internationally and deserves your attention.