iPhupho L’ka Biko

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The power and greatness of the Black African child has been lost in the buried chapters of ancient history and in the misrepresentation of recent history. The older generation is tattooed with scars of battles fought while the younger generation carries the weight of those traumas in their bones. The broken lens through which we view ourselves as a people has distorted the image we have of ourselves and destroyed the value we once placed on one another.

But music can help us heal. Music can help us find our way back to our Origin.

Origin will tell us who we are instead of who we have been conditioned to be.

Origin will tell us what we are capable of, instead of what we have been limited to.

Origin will reignite the fire of purpose and power that lies dormant beneath the layers of propaganda and despair.

Where is this Origin you ask.

Well…God; because uThixo ukhona.


But if that’s too farfetched for you and a more human reference is your preference, then perhaps a study of those that came before will set you on the path to discover the truth and its counterfeits. When we remember people who once lived on this planet, we actually remember what they stood for and the baton they passed on to us. Once discovered or remembered, the principles they embodied can be dusted off and re-used in this day and age. The digging and reflection may bring many questions to the fore, some of which will be who am I, whose am I and why do I matter?

In a setting where you’re either a number in queue or a statistic on a run sheet, it’s easy to lose the essence of living in the hustle of existing. iPhupho L’ka Biko is doing some much needed repair work to restore the Black African child’s psyche by speaking to the parts within us that no longer feel. The battle is no longer a violent outburst, it’s more of a silent turmoil with self, birthed by the disappointment of being sidelined by people who look and speak like us. The torment lies heavily on our subconscious that we’ve settled for whatever crumbs are available, but here is a band that’s using the most powerful tool, music, to repair the damage and return us as a people to a posture of power and purpose.

The quality of a place depends greatly on the quality of its inhabitants. For Mzantsi to return to Azania or even better, we (the people), have to be better and lip service is not enough. Beyond having principles, sound principles at that, we have to be people of action. A band like iPhupho L’ka Biko is instrumental to the people we will become, because every journey, every struggle, and every victory has a song. This band has reignited conversations that lost their spark to the blowing winds of life. They are mirroring our true selves back to us and what we choose to do with the image is entirely up to us; although it is hard to know and continue living ignorantly and iPhupha L’ka Biko is making it very difficult (rightfully so) to stay ignorant.

iPhupho L’ka Biko is not only a musical ensemble, they are an evolutionary movement using the medium of music to reconnect the Black African psyche to its origin. Because being woke is no longer enough, it’s time to be awakened.