THE MUSIC
The musical style performed by Fela Kuti is called Afrobeat, which is a fusion of jazz, funk, psychedelic rock, and traditional West African chants and rhythms. As Iwedi Ojinmah points out in his Article "Baba is Dead - Long Live Baba," Afrobeat also borrows heavily from the native "tinker pan" African-style percussion that Kuti acquired while studying in Ghana with Hugh Masakela, under the uncanny Hedzoleh Soundz. Afrobeat is also characterized by having vocals, and musical structure, along with jazzy, funky horn sections. The endless groove is also used, in which a base rhythm of drums, shekere, muted guitar, and bass guitar are repeated throughout the song. His band was notable for featuring two baritone saxophones, whereas most groups using this instrument only use one. This is a common technique in African and African-influenced musical styles, and can be seen in funk and hip-hop. Some elements often present in Fela's music are the call-and-response within the chorus and figurative but simple lyrics. Fela's songs were almost always over 10 minutes in length, some reaching the 20- or even 30-minute marks, while some unreleased tracks would last up to 45 minutes when performed live. This was one of many reasons that his music never reached a substantial degree of popularity outside Africa. His songs were mostly sung in Nigerian pidgin, although he also performed a few songs in the Yoruba language. Fela's main instruments were the saxophone and the keyboards, but he also played the trumpet, guitar, and took the occasional drum solo. Fela refused to perform songs again after he had already recorded them, which also hindered his popularity outside Africa. Fela was known for his showmanship, and his concerts were often quite outlandish and wild. He referred to his stage act as the Underground Spiritual Game. Fela attempted making a movie but lost all the materials to the fire that was set to his house by the military government in power.
POLITICAL VIEWS
The American Black Power movement influenced Fela's political views. He was also a supporter of Pan-Africanism and socialism, and called for a united, democratic African republic. He was a candid supporter of human rights, and many of his songs are direct attacks against dictatorships, specifically the militaristic governments of Nigeria in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a social commentator, and he criticized his fellow Africans (especially the upper class) for betraying traditional African culture. The African culture he believed in also included having many wives (polygyny) and the Kalakuta Republic was formed in part as a polygamist colony. He defended his stance on polygyny with the words "A man goes for many women in the first place. Like in Europe, when a man is married, when the wife is sleeping, he goes out and fucks around. He should bring the women in the house, man, to live with him, and stop running around the streets!" His views towards women are characterised by some as misogynist, with songs like "Mattress" typically cited as evidence. In a more complex example, he mocks the aspiration of African women to European standards of ladyhood while extolling the values of the market woman in his song "Lady." It should be noted, though, that Fela was very open when it came to sex, as he portrayed in some of his songs, such as "Open and Close" and "Na Poi."
Bypassing editorial censorship in Nigeria's predominantly state controlled press, Kuti began in the 1970s buying advertising space in daily and weekly newspapers such as The Daily Times and The Punch in order to run outspoken political columns. Published throughout the 1970s and early 1980s under the title Chief Priest Say, these columns were essentially extensions of Kuti's famous Yabi Sessions—consciousness-raising word-sound rituals, with himself as chief priest, conducted at his Lagos nightclub. Organized around a militantly Afrocentric rendering of history and the essence of black beauty, Chief Priest Say focused on the role of cultural hegemony in the continuing subjugation of Africans. Kuti addressed a number of topics, from explosive denunciations of the Nigerian Government's criminal behavior; Islam and Christianity's exploitive nature, and evil multinationals; to deconstructions of Western medicine, Black Muslims, sex, pollution, and poverty. Chief Priest Say was cancelled, first by Daily Times then by Punch, ostensibly due to non-payment, but many commentators have speculated that the paper's respective editors were placed under increasingly violent pressure to stop publication.
DISCOGRAPHY
Year Title Label
1971 Live ! (with Ginger Baker) Wrasse Records
1971 Why Black Man Dey Suffer Wrasse Records
1972 Stratavarious (with Ginger Baker) Polydor/Wrasse Records
1972 Na Poi Wrasse Records
1972 Open & Close Wrasse Records
1972 Shakara Wrasse Records
1972 Roforofo Fight Wrasse Records
1973 Afrodisiac Wrasse Records
1973 Gentleman Wrasse Records
1974 Alagbon Close Wrasse Records
1975 Noise for Vendor Mouth Wrasse Records
1975 Confusion Wrasse Records
1975 Everything Scatter Wrasse Records
1975 He Miss Road Wrasse Records
1975 Expensive Shit Wrasse Records
1976 No Bread Wrasse Records
1976 Kalakuta Show Wrasse Records
1976 Upside Down Wrasse Records
1976 Ikoyi Blindness Wrasse Records
1976 Before I Jump Like Monkey Give Me Banana Wrasse Records
1976 Excuse O Wrasse Records
1976 Zombie Wrasse Records
1976 Yellow Fever Wrasse Records
1977 Opposite People Wrasse Records
1977 Fear Not For Man Wrasse Records
1977 Stalemate Wrasse Records
1977 Observation No Crime Wrasse Records
1977 Johnny Just Drop (J.J.D Live!! at Kalakuta Republic) Wrasse Recs
1977 I Go Shout Plenty Wrasse Records
1977 No Agreement Wrasse Records
1977 Sorrow, Tears, and Blood Wrasse Records
1978 Shuffering and Shmiling Wrasse Records
1979 Unknown Soldier Wrasse Records
1980 I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) Wrasse Records
1980 Music of Many Colours (with Roy Ayers) Wrasse Records
1980 Authority Stealing Wrasse Records
1981 Black President Wrasse Records
1981 Original Sufferhead Wrasse Records
1981 Coffin for Head of State Wrasse Records
1983 Perambulator Wrasse Records
1983 Live in Amsterdam Wrasse Records
1985 Army Arrangement Wrasse Records
1986 Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense Wrasse Records
1989 Beasts of No Nation Wrasse Records
1989 O.D.O.O. (Overtake Don Overtake Overtake) Wrasse Records
1990 Confusion Break Bones Wrasse Records
1990 Just Like That Wrasse Records
1992 Underground System Wrasse Records
2004 The Underground Spiritual Game Quannum Projects
Filmography
Fela In Concert 1981, (VIEW)
Music Is The Weapon 1982, Stephane tchal-Gadjieff & Jean Jacques Flori, (Universal)
Fela Live! Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Egypt 80 Band 1984, Recorded Live At Glastonbury, England (Yazoo)
Femi Kuti - Live at the Shrine 2005, Recorded Live At Lagos, Nigeria (Palm Pictures / Umvd)
