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Fela Kuti

Fela Kuti was one of Africa's most controversial musicians and throughout his life he continued to fight for the rights of the common man (and woman) despite vilification, harassment, and even imprisonment by the government of Nigeria.

Born to Yoruban parents, Kuti was strongly influenced by both parents, his mother being Funmilayo, a leading figure in the nationalist struggle. Practically all of his records are dominated by political events and discussions from the approach of Pan- Africanism.

In 1954, Kuti joined the Cool Cats as a singer in that highlife band (highlife being the rage of the Lagos music scene at the time). During this period Kuti developed his own unusual sound which he described as highlife-jazz. In 1968 Kuti announced the arrival of Afro-beat, within the year was promoting his sound all over the USA on a 10- month tour where he became influenced by American jazz. He did some recordings in that came to be known as the “'69 Los Angeles Sessions,” that were remarkable, an indication of a maturing sound and of the raucous, propulsive music that was to mark Fela's career. When he returned to his homeland he opened a nightclub, the Shrine, and changed the name of his band to Africa 70 (and later to Egypt 80).

His bands traditionally included the typical huge line-up consisting of many singers and dancers, numerous saxophonists, trumpeters, drummers, percussionists, and of course, many guitarists blending African rhythms and jazz horn lines with politicized song lyrics. His music was intricate, rather than calling it Afro-beat you might more arguably consider it Afro-jazz. Entire recordings often consisted of just a few songs and this propensity for jamming set up a roadblock for Fela to attain commercial acceptance in the United States. H

e also abhorred performing a song after recording it, and this led to audience disinterest in the U.S. where the people wanted their music to be recognizable hits. Kuti continued his outspoken attacks on the Nigerian government. When the people returned to power in 1979, Kuti began his own political party - MOP (Movement of the People).

The military returned to power in 1983 and within the year Kuti was sentenced to five years in prison on a spurious currency smuggling charge. He was released in 1986 after yet another change of government. Fela Anikulapo Kuti died on Saturday, August 2, 1997, in Lagos, Nigeria. It had been rumoured for some time that Fela had a serious illness he was refusing treatment for, many said he was suffering from prostate cancer. But as it turns out, Fela died from complications due to AIDS.

Fela Kuti: Coffin For Head Of State

by Chris May
April 9, 2023

From the late 1970s onward, Fela's lyrics became longer, more complex and ever more confrontational. Coffin For Head Of State, first released on Kalakuta in 1981, is an outstanding example. It is one of several albums on which Fela responded to the Nigerian army's destruction of his Kalakuta Republic compound on 18 February 1977, and focuses particularly on the outrage's contribution to the subsequent death of his mother. Attacked by an estimated 1,000 soldiers, Kalakuta was burnt ...

Liner Notes

Fela Kuti: Yellow Fever

by Chris May
March 25, 2023

Yellow Fever was originally released in 1976 on Decca's West African imprint, Afrodisia, and both its tracks were hugely controversial in Nigeria. The title track is one of Fela's greatest masterpieces. Sung in Broken English, the language Fela adopted in order to make his words understood beyond Yoruba speakers, the lyrics rail against women's use of skin whitening creams, a fashion which, sadly, still persists today. Side One: “Yellow Fever." Yellow fever was the nickname Lagos residents ...

Liner Notes

Fela Kuti: Army Arrangement

by Chris May
March 4, 2023

Fela only occasionally used outside producers on his albums. Mostly, the results were good: EMI producer Jeff Jarratt's Afrodisiac (EMI, 1973), British dub master Dennis Bovell's Live In Amsterdam (Polygram, 1983) and keyboard player Wally Badarou's exceptional Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (Philips, 1986). But on one occasion it was spectacularly bad: avant-funk bassist Bill Laswell's insensitive remix and overdubbing of 1985's Army Arrangement (Celluloid), executed in New York while Fela was in jail in Nigeria. It ...

Liner Notes

Fela Anikulapo Kuti: Original Sufferhead

by Chris May
February 4, 2023

Original Sufferhead was the first album Fela released under Egypt 80's name, having disbanded Afrika 70 in 1979; the only musician held over was baritone saxophonist Lekan Animashaun, who had been with Fela since 1965 and who took over from the departing Tony Allen as bandleader. The album was recorded in early 1981, shortly after Fela received a particularly savage beating from the Lagos police—the only beating, he said later, among the many that he received over ...

Liner Notes

Fela Anikulapo Kuti: Perambulator

by Chris May
January 21, 2023

Until now one of the lost treasures of Fela's recorded legacy, the history of Perambulator is as arcane as the sleeve credit to Egypt 80 on the Lagos International label's original release is misleading. Far from being recorded by Egypt 80 in 1983, as claimed by Lagos International, both tracks were actually recorded by Afrika 70 in 1977, four years before Egypt 80 existed and with an entirely different lineup aside from baritone saxophonist Lekan Animashaun. The ...

Multiple Reviews

Fela Kuti plus Femi and Made Kuti: Challenging Debilitating Corruption with Dramatic Music

by Scott Gudell
March 21, 2021

It's impossible to neatly sum up Fela Kuti's chaotic life, but a record company bio for a disc of the Afrobeat icon tried: “Fela's life as musician, political activist, rebel, and notorious free spirit has made him a larger-than-life icon of world music: the ultimate political artist who has survived beatings, imprisonment, government assaults and more." Describing Fela's live shows, the bio continued, “audiences were mesmerized by the army of musicians, singers and dancers gyrating onstage." It might sound like ...

Profile

Fela Kuti: King Grenade

by Mick Raubenheimer
December 28, 2020

His Dark Majestic. Fela Kuti was born royalty, despite coming from a middle class family. One of those gifted spirits whose very presence teems with potency, Olufela Olusegun Oludan Ransome-Kuti (Fela to his friends and fans) was majestic, arresting the attention or desire of all who encountered him. He was also a rousing rebel, founding his own state in defiance of the militant Nigerian government. Embodied. Born into a middle class, but auspicious family ...

Event

Fela Kuti MFM Zoom Roundtable Discussion Set For April 19, 2024

Source: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi aka SoSaLa
April 13, 2024

MFM Presents “Music Is Essential," a Zoom Roundtable Discussion on the Legacy and Impact of Fela Kuti’s Music and Activism on the African Continent, with Special guests who knew or worked with the godfather of Afrobeat. Date: Friday, April 19, 2024—Time: 4:00-5:30 p.m. ET Venue: ZOOM—Ticket: $5 (up to 100 for sale. Save your seat TODAY!) Get Ticket Zoom host and PR Campaign manager: Adam Reifsteck This event is produced by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi aka SoSaLa (MFM President and ...
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Event

FELA! comes to Chicago

Source: Chris May
February 9, 2013

The award-winning Broadway musical FELA! – which is bringing the life and music of Nigerian icon and Afrobeat originator Fela Anikulapo-Kuti to the world stage - will play Chicago’s Arie Crown Theater February 19 – 23. An all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza in the best Broadway tradition, in other respects FELA! transcends musical theater convention. Escapism is replaced by gritty realism, compromise by authenticity. Kuti’s revolutionary politics are sympathetically presented, and his heroic story – marked by decades of brutal repression by ...
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Event

Fela NYC: Fresh From Africa at British Film Institute

Source: Chris May
August 15, 2012

New Nigerian Cinema and African Odsseys are screening Fela NYC: Fresh From Africa at the British Film Institute on London's Southbank at 2pm on Saturday 18 August. The 90-minute Fela Kuti documentary, directed by Edward Jaheed Ashley, is a mixture of interview, reportage and performance footage, shot in New York in 1986. All About Jazz's Chris May, the first overseas journalist to interview Kuti following the destruction of his Kalakuta Republic HQ by the Nigerian army in February 1977, will ...
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Event

All About Jazz's Chris May to speak at Fela Kuti events across UK

Source: Chris May
October 19, 2010

AAJ senior editor Chris May will give the first in a series of talks about Nigerian Afrobeat originator Fela Anikulapo Kuti at the British Library, London on Saturday 23 October, as part of the Nigeria 50+ festival. The event is the first of several to be held in British cities this fall. May, the author of AAJ's Afrobeat Diaries column and a friend of Kuti's since the 1970s, will be speaking alongside Rikki Stein, Kuti's longtime manager, Gilles Peterson, the ...
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Recording

2nd Set of Fela Kuti Reissues 5/11

Source: JamBase
May 5, 2010

KNITTING FACTORY RECORDS TO RELEASE SECOND SET OF FELA REISSUES MAY 11, 2010 UNIQUE PRE-SALE OFFERINGS VIA FELA.NET

Fela Kuti Knitting Factory Records is very excited to announce that the second set of Fela Kuti reissues will be released on May 11, 2010. Once again, as the reissues are being made available in mostly chronological order, these seven CDs that contain 14 albums total are mostly from the mid '70s and represent Fela and Africa '70 in their ...
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112

Recording

2nd Set of Fela Kuti Reissues Due 5/11

Source: JamBase
May 4, 2010

KNITTING FACTORY RECORDS TO RELEASE SECOND SET OF FELA REISSUES MAY 11, 2010 UNIQUE PRE-SALE OFFERINGS VIA FELA.NET

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Recording

New Re-Issues from Fela Kuti and Knitting Factory Records

Source: Giant Step
April 28, 2010

Our friends at Knitting Factory Records and Fela.net have announced the second set of Fela Kuti reissues, Na Poi:

These 7 CDs, which include 14 albums released primarily in the mid-70s, contain some of the most powerful music of Felas career, representing Fela and Africa 70 in their prime. In this collection, Felas political and social commentary begins to reach a boiling point with songs such as Alagbon Close, Icy Blindness, and Expensive Shit. Na Poi was banned ...
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Interview

Sharon Jones from Jameson to Fela Kuti, Preshow Rites of a Soul Band

Source: Michael Ricci
April 26, 2010

SHARON JONES is, as the saying goes, the real deal. A 5-foot-1 vocal powerhouse who has been nicknamed the Queen of Funk, Ms. Jones, 53, grew up singing at home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, in church and in local bands.

But professional success in music eluded her; for a time she worked as a prison guard at Rikers Island, where the inmates would sometimes make requests. Now, as the leader of the Dap-Kings, the house band of the Brooklyn record label ...
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Recording

Fela Kuti Reissues to Begin 2/16

Source: JamBase
January 29, 2010

KNITTING FACTORY RECORDS TO RELEASE FIRST SET OF FELA KUTI REISSUES 2/16

Fela Kuti Knitting Factory Records has announced that the first set of Fela Kuti reissues will be released on February 16, 2010. Since the reissues are being made available in chronological order, these six CDs (containing nine albums total) represent the earliest period of the Nigerian legend's oeuvre.

The time span of the releases is 1969 - 1974, the era during which Fela first created the sound he ...
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206

Recording

New Fela Kuti Reissue Series Begins!

Source: Big Hassle
September 18, 2009

KNITTING FACTORY RECORDS TO BEGIN COMPLETE FELA REISSUE SERIES FIRST RELEASE TO BE THE BEST OF THE BLACK PRESIDENT WITH EXCLUSIVE DVD ON OCTOBER 27, 2009 FIRST TIME ALL 45 TITLES WILL BE RELEASED ON VINYL IN NORTH AMERICA FIRST OFFICIAL RELEASE OF ENTIRE CATALOGUE OF FELA'S 1960s BAND: KOOLA LOBITOS BROADWAY MUSICAL FELA! TO OPEN NOVEMBER 23 AT EUGENE O'NEIL THEATRE Knitting Factory Records is very excited to announce that over the next 18 months, all 45 Fela titles ...
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