Higher vibes is the first match BCUC strike to announce their new album “The road is never easy“ out 3 April 2025. The track ignites with a chant: “Higher vibes, higher sensitivity, higher love languages, higher vibrations”, BCUC’s first single pulses with the raw energy that’s made them one of the most electrifying live acts on the planet. Higher Vibes is dub-spiced Afro-psychedelic funk from Soweto, where gospel fervor meets punk attitude and hip-hop consciousness flows in Zulu, English, and street vernacular.
The track is both spiritual invocation and dance floor detonation. “We are from Soweto” they chant, and you feel it in every bar: the pride, the history, the unshakeable confidence of a crew operating as a collective force. Higher vibes honors the old schools boom bap, backpack rap, bongomaffin, raggamuffin, while blazing their own fearless path forward.
The energy shifts from swagger to celebration as the chorus opens up: “It’s a good time, it’s a good vibe, we are giving good living.” That phrase, “giving good living”, captures what BCUC do best. Their music doesn’t just entertain; it elevates, connects, transforms. Their mantra is: Music for the people, by the people, with the people. Welcome to the universe of BCUC a collective deeply rooted in the history of the neighbourhood they live in.
BCUC
BCUC – Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness – have been channeling the spirit of Soweto for over twenty years. Indigenous funk, hip-hop consciousness, and punk rock energy fused into something utterly original and deeply rooted.
From humble beginnings rehearsing in a shipping container, a stone’s throw from the church where Desmond Tutu organized the escape of the most wanted anti-Apartheid activists, they kept believing in their dream of self-empowerment. Today they command festival stages worldwide: Glastonbury West Holts, Roskilde, Afropunk Brooklyn, WOMAD, Fusion, Sziget, FMM Sines, Beaches Brew, Boomtown, Colours of Ostrava, Couleur Café – to name just a few.
In 2023, BCUC were honoured with the prestigious WOMEX Artist Award, an accolade usually reserved for more established artists, in recognition of their fearless work and transcendent live performances.
THE ROAD IS NEVER EASY
The Road Is Never Easy is BCUC’s fifth album and their debut on Outhere Records. On this new offering, BCUC take listeners on another Afro-psychedelic journey into the soul of Soweto. It feels like a gospel sermon colliding with a punk concert, “guaranteed to touch untapped corners of your soul” (OkayAfrica).
BCUC’s music is deeply rooted in history and echoes the voices of the ones who came before. The road was never easy for the people of Soweto who originally came to work in the mines of Egoli, the City of Gold, Johannesburg. When apartheid finally ended after a long struggle, it was hoped that life would improve. But more than 30 years later, many of those initial hopes and dreams are still waiting to be fulfilled. This album is about that struggle.
“BCUC have a unique magic,” says Outhere’s Jay Rutledge, who produced the album. “It blew our minds. It’s like punk and pure gospel at the same time. Their music can make you dance and it can make you cry, all at the same time. And when the song is over, you feel you’re not alone in this world anymore. We felt compelled to do this.”
The album cover is based on a matchbox design, matches being a common household item in South Africa even today. “These were the matches people used to burn government buildings and cars,” explain BCUC. Little messages, addresses, or phone numbers used to be scribbled on the back of these boxes; each one a reminder of the strength, resilience, and resistance that once drove the struggle for freedom in Soweto. BCUC keep this flame burning.
TOUR
BCUC will be on tour throughout Europe and the UK from April – July 2026
RELEASE SCHEDULE
1st Single: Higher Vibes – 16 January 2026
2nd Single: Amakhandela – 20 February 2026
3rd Single: Umdumakhanda – 13 March 2026
Album: The Road Is Never Easy – 3 April 2026
‘Guaranteed to touch untapped corners of your soul’
— OkayAfrica
‘Without a doubt the best live act I saw’
— Gilles Peterson
★ 2023 WOMEX Artist Award Winners ★
