Bantu, a songwriter-singer hailing from Zimbabwe, has just dropped his new massive record, ‘Leaving,’ along with a music video.
‘Leaving’ appears on the new FIFA 21 soundtrack, and the artist performed it at the FIFA 21 World Premiere virtual festival, alongside the likes of Dua Lipa, Diplo and Lil Mosey.
Performing alongside Dua Lipa, Diplo, and Lil Mosey, Bantu exclusively revealed his new single, ‘Leaving’, at FIFA 21’s World Premiere virtual show, which featured a star-studded line up of artists that feature on the games soundtrack. Now making its official release, Bantu drops the track and video for the infectious record.
With music and visuals that reflect his multicultural background, Bantu offers a collage of infectious sounds, rhythms, and stories. ‘Leaving’ is a mid-tempo love song that fuses bright electronic club sounds with African rhythms. Speaking on the release of the video, which features a one-take style edit that is emblazoned with bold colors and performance shots, Bantu explains:
“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 says she’s leaving, and you’re begging her to stay. It’s a fun, colorful, relatable video.”
The video was directed by Bantu and James Davis II, who co-directed all of Bantu’s videos with him, including ‘Jackie Chan,’ which was in FIFA 19 and has amassed almost 2 million views.
“I wrote ‘Leaving’ with my friend and frequent collaborator, Johnny Yukon (Roddy Rich, Don Toliver, J Balvin, PartyNextDoor),” Bantu reveals. “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.'”
One of Zimbabwe’s most celebrated new music artists, Bantu has previously reaped major success with his musical ventures. Taking his unique worldly sounds and integrating them into pop productions, his own effortless and impressive discography has seen him collaborate with Dr Chaii for their EP ‘Coming To America Vol. 1’, and ‘Stretch,’ featuring Def Jam artist Danileigh.
Among other recognitions, Bantu’s previous record ‘Just a Little’ was featured in the Netflix hit series ‘On My Block,’ and his song ‘Jackie Chan’ was featured on the FIFA 19 soundtrack.
Aside from his solo work, Bantu has also been prevalent in the wider music scene, including the world of film and TV. As one of his most recent career highlights, Bantu featured on the Grammy-nominated single ‘Familia’ with Nicki Minaj and Anuel Aa, taken from ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.’ He is also behind some of the world’s biggest hits, with producer and writing credits that include Jason Derulo’s single ‘Tip Toe’ feat. French Montana; ‘Whiskey’ by Maroon 5, feat. A$AP Rocky, and many more.
‘Leaving’ is set to follow the footsteps of Bantu’s incredible music collection.
Listen to ‘Leaving,’ and watch the official music video now.
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