Batuk's Aero Manyelo, Manteiga and Spoek Mathambo. Source: Facebook

Batuk make pan-African house music. For South African producers Spoek Mathambo, Aero Manyelo and artist/vocalist Manteiga, house music is a vehicle to connect the African diaspora through rhythm culture and language.

Today, on Freedom Day in South Africa, the collective returns with the overtly political third single off their forthcoming debut album, Musica da Terra. On the protest song “Gira” (a portuguese word meaning to change or turn around), the group calls on Africa’s younger generations to put a stop to conflict across the continent. “Addressing the constant war and fighting in Africa, the song is born of dance floor culture, but not of it’s typical hedonistic nature,” Batuk states. “There are currently fifteen African countries involved in war, or are experiencing post-war conflict and tension. The statistics are not only shocking/frightening…the time has come for CHANGE.”