M.O.P. (Movement Of the People)
Ogun State, Nigeria,[2] to a middle-class family. His mother, Funmilayo Ran… Read Full Bio ↴Ogun State, Nigeria,[2] to a middle-class family. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a feminist active in the anti-colonial movement and his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a Protestant minister and school Principal, was the first president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers. His medical doctor brothers, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, were both well known in Nigeria.
Fela was sent to London in 1958 to study medicine but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a style of music that he would later call Afrobeat. The style was a fusion of American Jazz, psychedelic rock, and Funk with West African Highlife. In 1961, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor, with whom he would have three children (Femi, Yeni, and Sola). In 1963, Fela moved back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and trained as a radio producer for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1969, Fela took the band to the United States. While there, Fela discovered the Black power movement through Sandra Smith (now Isidore)—a partisan of the Black Panther Party—which would heavily influence his music and political views and renamed the band Nigeria ’70. Soon, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off by a promoter that Fela and his band were in the US without work permits. The band then performed a quick recording session in Los Angeles that would later be released as The ’69 Los Angeles Sessions.
Fela and his band, renamed Africa '70, returned to Nigeria. He then formed the Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio, and a home for many connected to the band that he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. Fela set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, named the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika Shrine, where he performed regularly. Fela also changed his middle name to Anikulapo (meaning "he who carries death in his pouch"),[3] stating that his original middle name of Ransome was a slave name. The recordings continued, and the music became more politically motivated. Fela's music became very popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general. In fact, he made the decision to sing in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As popular as Fela's music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was also very unpopular with the ruling government, and raids on the Kalakuta Republic were frequent. In 1974 the police arrived with a search warrant and a cannabis joint, which they had intended to plant on Fela. He became wise to this and swallowed the joint. In response, the police took him into custody and waited to examine his feces. Fela enlisted the help of his prison mates and gave the police someone else's feces, and Fela was freed. He then recounted this tale in his release Expensive Shit.
In 1977 Fela and the Afrika ’70 released the hit album Zombie, a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic, during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his elderly mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela's studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed. Fela claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela's response to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to the main army barrack in Lagos and write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier," referencing the official inquiry that claimed the commune had been destroyed by an unknown soldier.
Fela and his band then took residence in Crossroads Hotel as the Shrine had been destroyed along with his commune. In 1978 Fela married 27 women, many of whom were his dancers, composers, and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic. Later, he was to adopt a rotation system of keeping only twelve simultaneous wives.[4] The year was also marked by two notorious concerts, the first in Accra in which riots broke out during the song "Zombie," which led to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at the Berlin Jazz Festival after which most of Fela's musicians deserted him, due to rumors that Fela was planning to use the entirety of the proceeds to fund his presidential campaign.
Despite the massive setbacks, Fela was determined to come back. He formed his own political party, which he called Movement of the People. In 1979 he put himself forward for President in Nigeria's first elections for more than a decade but his candidature was refused. At this time, Fela created a new band called Egypt 80 and continued to record albums and tour the country. He further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT vice-president Moshood Abiola and then General Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot-selling 25-minute political screed titled "I.T.T. (International Thief-Thief)."
In 1984, he was again attacked by the Military government, who jailed him on a dubious charge of currency smuggling. His case was taken up by several human-rights groups, and after 20 months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his 12 remaining wives, saying that "marriage brings jealousy and selfishness."[5] Once again, Fela continued to release albums with Egypt 80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and the Neville Brothers. In 1989, Fela & Egypt 80 released the anti-apartheid "Beasts of No Nation" album that depicts on its cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African Prime Minister P.W. Botha with fangs dripping blood.
His album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums altogether. The battle against military corruption in Nigeria was taking its toll, especially during the rise of dictator Sani Abacha. Rumors were also spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. On August 3, 1997, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his younger brother's death a day earlier from Kaposi's sarcoma brought on by AIDS. (Their younger brother Beko was in jail at this time at the hand of Abacha for political activity). More than a million people attended Fela's funeral at the site of the old Shrine compound. A new Africa Shrine has opened since Fela's death in a different section of Lagos under the supervision of his son Femi Kuti.
[edit] Music
The musical style performed by Fela Kuti is called Afrobeat, which is essentially a fusion of jazz, funk, psychedelic rock, and traditional African chants and rhythms. It is characterized by having African-style percussion, 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. 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 of 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 made 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.
[edit] 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 fierce 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!"[6]. His views towards women are characterised by some as misogynist, with songs like "Mattress" typically cited as evidence[7]. 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."
[edit] Chief Priest Say
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.[8] 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.
[edit] Partial Discography
Year Title Label
1971 Live ! (with Ginger Baker) Regal Zonophone / Pathe Marconi
1971 Why Black Man Dey Suffer Africa Songs Limited
1972 Stratavarious (with Ginger Baker) Polydor / Atco (later rereleased on Chronicles/PolyGram)
1972 Na Poi EMI HMV
1972 Open & Close EMI / Pathe Marconi
1972 Shakara EMI / Editions Makossa / Pathe Marconi / Creole
1972 Roforofo Fight Jofabro / Editions Makossa / Pathe Marconi
1973 Afrodisiac EMI/ Regal Zonophone / Pathe Marconi
1973 Gentleman EMI / Pathe Marconi / Creole
1974 Alagbon Close Jofabro / Editions Makossa
1975 Noise for Vendor Mouth Afrobeat
1975 Confusion EMI / Pathe Marconi
1975 Everything Scatter Coconuts / Creoles
1975 He Miss Road EMI / Pathe Marconis
1975 Expensive Shit Soundwork Shops / Editions Makossa
1976 No Bread Soundwork Shop / Editions Makossas
1976 Kalakuta Show Kalakuta / Editions Makossa
1976 Upside Down Deccas Afrodisia
1976 Ikoyi Blindness Africa Music
1976 Before I Jump Like Monkey Give Me Banana Coconut
1976 Excuse O Coconut
1976 Zombie Coconut / Creole / Mercury
1976 Yellow Fever Decca Afrodesia
1977 Opposite People Decca_Afrodesia
1977 Fear Not For Man Decca Afrodesia
1977 Stalemate Decca Afrodesia
1977 Observation No Crime Decca Afrodesia
1977 Johnny Just Drop (J.J.D Live!! at Kalakuta Republic) Decca Afrodesia
1977 I Go Shout Plenty Decca Afrodesia
1977 No Agreement Decca Afrodesia / Barclay / Celluloid
1977 Sorrow, Tears and Blood Kalakuta
1978 Shuffering and Shmiling Coconut / Celluloid
1979 Unknown Soldier Phonodisk / Uno Melodic
1979 I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) Kalakuta
1980 Music of Many Colours (with Roy Ayers) Phonodisk / Celluloid
1980 Authority Stealing Kalakuta
1981 Black President Capitol/EMI
1981 Original Sufferhead Lagos International / Arista
1981 Coffin for Head of State Kalakuta
1983 Perambulator Lagos International
1983 Live In Amsterdam Barclay/PolyGram
1985 Army Arrangement Kalakuta / Celluloid
1986 Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense Barclay/PolyGram
1989 Beasts of No Nation Kalakuta / Eurobound / Shanachie
1989 O.D.O.O. (Overtake Don Overtake Overtake) Kalakuta / Shanachie
1990 Confusion Break Bones Kalakuta
1990 Just Like That Kalakuta
1992 Underground System Kalakuta / Stern's
[edit] References
1. ^ 音楽 情報ニュース/100人の偉大なアーティスト - No. 46/HMV
2. ^ Hamilton, Janice. Nigeria in Pictures, p. 70
3. ^ Meaning of Anikulapo in Nigerian.name
4. ^ Fela Kuti remembered | World | guardian.co.uk Music
5. ^ Fela Kuti remembered | World | guardian.co.uk Music
6. ^ Fela Kuti
7. ^ Fela and His Wives. Jouvert, The Import of a Postcolonial Masculinity.
8. ^ This section includes material copied verbatim from "Chief Priest Say", at chimurengalibrary.co.za, released under GFDL.
[edit] Sources
* Idowu, Mabinuori Kayode (2002). Fela, le Combattant. Le Castor Astral. France.
* Olaniyan, Tejumola (2004). Arrest the Music! Fela and his rebel art and politics. Indiana University Press. USA.
* Olorunyomi, Sola (2002). Afrobeat: Fela and the Imagined Continent. Africa World Press. ??.
* Schoonmaker, Trevor (ed) (2003). Fela: From West Africa to West Broadway. Palgrave Macmillan. USA.
* Schoonmaker, Trevor (ed) (2003). Black President: The Art & Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. New Museum Of Contemporary Art, New York. ISBN 0-915557-87-8.
* Veal, Michael E. (1997). Fela: The Life of an African Musical Icon. Temple University Press. USA.
[edit] Video
* Stephane tchal-Gadjieff & Jean Jacques Flori, Music Is The Weapon 1982, reissued in 2002 by Universal
* Fela In Concert 1981
* Fela Live! Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Egypt 80 Band 1981, Recorded Live At Glastonbury, England
[edit] See also
* Afrobeat
* Ransome-Kuti Family
* Femi Kuti
* Tony Allen
* Seun Kuti
* Antibalas
* Chicago Afrobeat Project
* Chopteeth
* Ginger Baker
[edit] External links
* Fela Kuti / Koola Lobitos / Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70 / Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Africa 70 / Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 discographies at Discogs.
* Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, a detailed discography.
* The Fela Project, a multimedia art exhibition, publication and performance project that explores and commemorates the influence of Fela Kuti.
* Fela From West Africa to West Broadway, book with multi-faceted look into Fela's life and legacy.
* Black President, exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY in 2003. Traveled to London, San Francisco and Cincinnati.
* New York Times Review.
* Fela Lyrics, lyrics to 19 of Fela's songs.
* Current working afrobeat bands worldwide.
* BBC Radio 3 Fela Kuti Feature (currently available to listen to).
* The Shrine: Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti and Afrobeat Music, fan site with biography's, lyrics, tour dates, forum, gig reviews and Fela Kuti interview.
* Fela Radio Shrine, a trip into the musical thoughts of Fela Kuti.
* Fela's true legacy, in-depth article from The Guardian.
* Fela Kuti remembered Biography from The Guardian.
* A linguistic approach to Fela Kuti's lyrics, word-by-word translations of five of Fela's best-known songs.
* Fela Kuti's biographical entry in the African Music Encyclopedia.
* Fela Kuti, under World Music Legends on GlobalRhythm.
Persondata
NAME Kuti, Fela
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti (real name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Musician and actor
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
DATE OF DEATH August 2, 1997
PLACE OF DEATH Nigeria
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti"
Fela was sent to London in 1958 to study medicine but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a style of music that he would later call Afrobeat. The style was a fusion of American Jazz, psychedelic rock, and Funk with West African Highlife. In 1961, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor, with whom he would have three children (Femi, Yeni, and Sola). In 1963, Fela moved back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and trained as a radio producer for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1969, Fela took the band to the United States. While there, Fela discovered the Black power movement through Sandra Smith (now Isidore)—a partisan of the Black Panther Party—which would heavily influence his music and political views and renamed the band Nigeria ’70. Soon, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off by a promoter that Fela and his band were in the US without work permits. The band then performed a quick recording session in Los Angeles that would later be released as The ’69 Los Angeles Sessions.
Fela and his band, renamed Africa '70, returned to Nigeria. He then formed the Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio, and a home for many connected to the band that he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. Fela set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, named the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika Shrine, where he performed regularly. Fela also changed his middle name to Anikulapo (meaning "he who carries death in his pouch"),[3] stating that his original middle name of Ransome was a slave name. The recordings continued, and the music became more politically motivated. Fela's music became very popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general. In fact, he made the decision to sing in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As popular as Fela's music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was also very unpopular with the ruling government, and raids on the Kalakuta Republic were frequent. In 1974 the police arrived with a search warrant and a cannabis joint, which they had intended to plant on Fela. He became wise to this and swallowed the joint. In response, the police took him into custody and waited to examine his feces. Fela enlisted the help of his prison mates and gave the police someone else's feces, and Fela was freed. He then recounted this tale in his release Expensive Shit.
In 1977 Fela and the Afrika ’70 released the hit album Zombie, a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic, during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his elderly mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela's studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed. Fela claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela's response to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to the main army barrack in Lagos and write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier," referencing the official inquiry that claimed the commune had been destroyed by an unknown soldier.
Fela and his band then took residence in Crossroads Hotel as the Shrine had been destroyed along with his commune. In 1978 Fela married 27 women, many of whom were his dancers, composers, and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic. Later, he was to adopt a rotation system of keeping only twelve simultaneous wives.[4] The year was also marked by two notorious concerts, the first in Accra in which riots broke out during the song "Zombie," which led to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at the Berlin Jazz Festival after which most of Fela's musicians deserted him, due to rumors that Fela was planning to use the entirety of the proceeds to fund his presidential campaign.
Despite the massive setbacks, Fela was determined to come back. He formed his own political party, which he called Movement of the People. In 1979 he put himself forward for President in Nigeria's first elections for more than a decade but his candidature was refused. At this time, Fela created a new band called Egypt 80 and continued to record albums and tour the country. He further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT vice-president Moshood Abiola and then General Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot-selling 25-minute political screed titled "I.T.T. (International Thief-Thief)."
In 1984, he was again attacked by the Military government, who jailed him on a dubious charge of currency smuggling. His case was taken up by several human-rights groups, and after 20 months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his 12 remaining wives, saying that "marriage brings jealousy and selfishness."[5] Once again, Fela continued to release albums with Egypt 80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and the Neville Brothers. In 1989, Fela & Egypt 80 released the anti-apartheid "Beasts of No Nation" album that depicts on its cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African Prime Minister P.W. Botha with fangs dripping blood.
His album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums altogether. The battle against military corruption in Nigeria was taking its toll, especially during the rise of dictator Sani Abacha. Rumors were also spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. On August 3, 1997, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his younger brother's death a day earlier from Kaposi's sarcoma brought on by AIDS. (Their younger brother Beko was in jail at this time at the hand of Abacha for political activity). More than a million people attended Fela's funeral at the site of the old Shrine compound. A new Africa Shrine has opened since Fela's death in a different section of Lagos under the supervision of his son Femi Kuti.
[edit] Music
The musical style performed by Fela Kuti is called Afrobeat, which is essentially a fusion of jazz, funk, psychedelic rock, and traditional African chants and rhythms. It is characterized by having African-style percussion, 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. 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 of 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 made 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.
[edit] 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 fierce 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!"[6]. His views towards women are characterised by some as misogynist, with songs like "Mattress" typically cited as evidence[7]. 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."
[edit] Chief Priest Say
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.[8] 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.
[edit] Partial Discography
Year Title Label
1971 Live ! (with Ginger Baker) Regal Zonophone / Pathe Marconi
1971 Why Black Man Dey Suffer Africa Songs Limited
1972 Stratavarious (with Ginger Baker) Polydor / Atco (later rereleased on Chronicles/PolyGram)
1972 Na Poi EMI HMV
1972 Open & Close EMI / Pathe Marconi
1972 Shakara EMI / Editions Makossa / Pathe Marconi / Creole
1972 Roforofo Fight Jofabro / Editions Makossa / Pathe Marconi
1973 Afrodisiac EMI/ Regal Zonophone / Pathe Marconi
1973 Gentleman EMI / Pathe Marconi / Creole
1974 Alagbon Close Jofabro / Editions Makossa
1975 Noise for Vendor Mouth Afrobeat
1975 Confusion EMI / Pathe Marconi
1975 Everything Scatter Coconuts / Creoles
1975 He Miss Road EMI / Pathe Marconis
1975 Expensive Shit Soundwork Shops / Editions Makossa
1976 No Bread Soundwork Shop / Editions Makossas
1976 Kalakuta Show Kalakuta / Editions Makossa
1976 Upside Down Deccas Afrodisia
1976 Ikoyi Blindness Africa Music
1976 Before I Jump Like Monkey Give Me Banana Coconut
1976 Excuse O Coconut
1976 Zombie Coconut / Creole / Mercury
1976 Yellow Fever Decca Afrodesia
1977 Opposite People Decca_Afrodesia
1977 Fear Not For Man Decca Afrodesia
1977 Stalemate Decca Afrodesia
1977 Observation No Crime Decca Afrodesia
1977 Johnny Just Drop (J.J.D Live!! at Kalakuta Republic) Decca Afrodesia
1977 I Go Shout Plenty Decca Afrodesia
1977 No Agreement Decca Afrodesia / Barclay / Celluloid
1977 Sorrow, Tears and Blood Kalakuta
1978 Shuffering and Shmiling Coconut / Celluloid
1979 Unknown Soldier Phonodisk / Uno Melodic
1979 I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) Kalakuta
1980 Music of Many Colours (with Roy Ayers) Phonodisk / Celluloid
1980 Authority Stealing Kalakuta
1981 Black President Capitol/EMI
1981 Original Sufferhead Lagos International / Arista
1981 Coffin for Head of State Kalakuta
1983 Perambulator Lagos International
1983 Live In Amsterdam Barclay/PolyGram
1985 Army Arrangement Kalakuta / Celluloid
1986 Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense Barclay/PolyGram
1989 Beasts of No Nation Kalakuta / Eurobound / Shanachie
1989 O.D.O.O. (Overtake Don Overtake Overtake) Kalakuta / Shanachie
1990 Confusion Break Bones Kalakuta
1990 Just Like That Kalakuta
1992 Underground System Kalakuta / Stern's
[edit] References
1. ^ 音楽 情報ニュース/100人の偉大なアーティスト - No. 46/HMV
2. ^ Hamilton, Janice. Nigeria in Pictures, p. 70
3. ^ Meaning of Anikulapo in Nigerian.name
4. ^ Fela Kuti remembered | World | guardian.co.uk Music
5. ^ Fela Kuti remembered | World | guardian.co.uk Music
6. ^ Fela Kuti
7. ^ Fela and His Wives. Jouvert, The Import of a Postcolonial Masculinity.
8. ^ This section includes material copied verbatim from "Chief Priest Say", at chimurengalibrary.co.za, released under GFDL.
[edit] Sources
* Idowu, Mabinuori Kayode (2002). Fela, le Combattant. Le Castor Astral. France.
* Olaniyan, Tejumola (2004). Arrest the Music! Fela and his rebel art and politics. Indiana University Press. USA.
* Olorunyomi, Sola (2002). Afrobeat: Fela and the Imagined Continent. Africa World Press. ??.
* Schoonmaker, Trevor (ed) (2003). Fela: From West Africa to West Broadway. Palgrave Macmillan. USA.
* Schoonmaker, Trevor (ed) (2003). Black President: The Art & Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. New Museum Of Contemporary Art, New York. ISBN 0-915557-87-8.
* Veal, Michael E. (1997). Fela: The Life of an African Musical Icon. Temple University Press. USA.
[edit] Video
* Stephane tchal-Gadjieff & Jean Jacques Flori, Music Is The Weapon 1982, reissued in 2002 by Universal
* Fela In Concert 1981
* Fela Live! Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Egypt 80 Band 1981, Recorded Live At Glastonbury, England
[edit] See also
* Afrobeat
* Ransome-Kuti Family
* Femi Kuti
* Tony Allen
* Seun Kuti
* Antibalas
* Chicago Afrobeat Project
* Chopteeth
* Ginger Baker
[edit] External links
* Fela Kuti / Koola Lobitos / Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70 / Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Africa 70 / Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 discographies at Discogs.
* Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, a detailed discography.
* The Fela Project, a multimedia art exhibition, publication and performance project that explores and commemorates the influence of Fela Kuti.
* Fela From West Africa to West Broadway, book with multi-faceted look into Fela's life and legacy.
* Black President, exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY in 2003. Traveled to London, San Francisco and Cincinnati.
* New York Times Review.
* Fela Lyrics, lyrics to 19 of Fela's songs.
* Current working afrobeat bands worldwide.
* BBC Radio 3 Fela Kuti Feature (currently available to listen to).
* The Shrine: Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti and Afrobeat Music, fan site with biography's, lyrics, tour dates, forum, gig reviews and Fela Kuti interview.
* Fela Radio Shrine, a trip into the musical thoughts of Fela Kuti.
* Fela's true legacy, in-depth article from The Guardian.
* Fela Kuti remembered Biography from The Guardian.
* A linguistic approach to Fela Kuti's lyrics, word-by-word translations of five of Fela's best-known songs.
* Fela Kuti's biographical entry in the African Music Encyclopedia.
* Fela Kuti, under World Music Legends on GlobalRhythm.
Persondata
NAME Kuti, Fela
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti (real name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Musician and actor
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
DATE OF DEATH August 2, 1997
PLACE OF DEATH Nigeria
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti"
M.O.P.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'M.O.P.' by these artists:
Busta Rhymes/Funkmaster Flex/M.O.P./Remy Martin/Tephlon Attention please, attention please This shit here feels like…
DJ C.R.E.A.M. Here comes the revolutionist, executionist Flip a triple si…
Funkmaster Flex/M.O.P. Attention please, attention please This shit here feels like…
m.o.p. ft. funkmaster flex Attention please, attention please This shit here feels like…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Fela Anikulapo Kuti:
We have lyrics for these tracks by Egypt 80:
African Problems African problems (Too much to talk about) African problems (…
Don't Give That Shit To Me Don't bring that shit to me (my brothers and sisters) Don't…
Fire Dance Na the dance, make me come here today Na to dance,…
Many Things I don hear many things (Many things) I don see many…
Mosquito Song E get one think wey we don dey live with…
Na Oil Your father and mother, dem make poi together Dem bring you…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
@weneedgoodgovtinnigeria2194
his songs serves countless purpose
1...he passed different messages about African underground systems
2...his songs is always there to relax yourself and be able to realize the value of life
3...His songs has been a medication since then till now and till the eternity
he has revealed Nigerian politician secrets before he passed away that is why the so daft and dumb with fucking and evil nigerian politician with thier empty medulla oblongata don't like him when he was alive
Daddy you will always be remembered continue resting sir
@processinmotion2829
Every non-Afrikan should listen to fela too, i think ☺️🔥🤯✌🏽
@chinonsoobinna2626
Every Afrikan should listen to Fela, I think.
@hyppenkosi4065
Relevant even today
@birdflavor8904
@@hyppenkosi4065❤❤❤❤
@louisotieno4712
Police for small fight[small fight],
Army for big fight[big fight],
Navy for water fight[water fight],
Air force for Air fight [Air fight],
I can't get enough of this man
@louisotieno4712
@Malik Walker well done bro😁😂🤣
@mrgakozak
This guy could lay down rhythms like nobody else. A superb master craftsman, in a league wholly his own.
@olusholatravih2524
C can host
@dsloyalty7775
A genius mind of music🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
@belloismail5697
Fela the Legend of all time. The African with the preaching of our ancestors. He follow the footsteps of the underground gods of our ancestors. May you live in peace wherever you are...! We missed u so much.