LOS ANGELES-BASED Zimbabwean musician-cum-producer Tinashe “Bantu” Sibanda (pictured), who made headlines after being nominated for Grammy awards in the Music for Visual Media category following the release of his recent project — Familia — a collaboration with Trinidad and Tobago-born rapper Nicki Minaj and Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA, continues to shine after his new project titled Leaving has been selected as the Fifa 21 game soundtrack. BY FREEMAN MAKOPA Fifa is a series of association football simulation video games developed and released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. Football video games such as Sensible Soccer, Kick Off and Match Day were developed since the late 1980s and were already competitive in the games market when EA Sports announced a football game as the next edition to their EA Sports label. Bantu told NewsDay Life & Style that he was excited to be part of the legendary game. “I have a song that’s going to be out on October 9 and the most interesting thing is that it has been announced as the Fifa 21 game’s soundtrack. It’s interesting to be part of the legendary game that I grew up playing. The song will also come with a video. “I am excited and I can’t wait to see what people will think of the project and it’s really something I am proud of. This is not my first song to feature on the game since my other song Jackie Chan was one of the soundtracks on Fifa 19,” he said. The Holiday hitmaker said he was eyeing to spread the African sound to various parts of the world. “For me, the thing is I am proud to be representing my country of origin and placing it on the map through music and I am also focusing on spreading the African sound around the globe. I am glad that at one time I managed to be nominated for Grammy awards which is a huge achievement and currently I am working on living a mark on the globe.” Bantu shot to the limelight in 2016 with the single Holiday, a love song that fuses bright electronic club sounds with African rhythms. The song was paired with a provocative video depicting a young African couple clashing with rebel fighters. Subsequent singles Roll with Me that features Shungudzo and ZieZie and Juice followed a similar trajectory, with emphasis on vibrant reggae rhythms. Bantu has worked with top artistes in the mould of Chris Brown, Rita Ora, Maroon 5, Mr Eazi, Ice Prince, Fifth Harmony, J Balvin, among others. He has also collaborated with countryman Dr Chaii and continues to produce unique and chart-topping songs with top musicians across genres. Bantu’s multicultural background is evident on every song. He has worked with some of the biggest names in America’s music industry, including Nicki Minaj and Latino superstar Anuel AA for the track Familia which features on the soundtrack of the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.