HMV Magazine ranked him as #46 on a list of the 100 most influential musicians of the 20th century.
The musical style performed by Fela Kuti is called Afrobeat, which is essentially a fusion of jazz, funk, highlife, and traditional Yoruban 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. 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 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 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 was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, to a middle-class family. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a feminist activist 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 brothers, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti,both medical doctors, are 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)βa partisan of the Black Panther Partyβwhich would heavily influence his music and political views and renamed the band Nigeria β70. 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"), 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 (now released together with "He Miss Road" as Expensive Shit/He Miss Road).
In 1977 Fela and the Afrika β70 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. 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." 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 3 August 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.
Gentleman
Fela Kuti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
O sele
Mi gbo dada
Mi ti gbo
I no be gentleman at all
I no be gentleman at all
I no be gentleman at all o
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
Them call you, make you come chop
You chop small, you say you belle full
You say you be gentleman, you go hungry
You go suffer, you go quench
Me I no be gentleman like that
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
You dey go your way, the jeje way
Somebody come bring, original trouble
You no talk, you no act, you say you be gentleman
You go suffer, you go tire, you go quench
Me I no be gentleman like that
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
Africa hot, I like am so
I know what to wear, but my friends don't know
Him put him socks, him put him shoe
Him put him pant, him put him singlet
Him put him trouser, him put him shirt
Him put him tie, him put him coat
Him come cover all with him hat
Him be gentleman, him go sweat, all over
Him go faint right down, him go smell like shit
Him go piss for body, him no go know
Me I no be gentleman like that
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all, at all
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
I no be gentleman at all o
I be Africa man original
The lyrics to Fela Kuti's "Gentleman" convey the message that he rejects the idea of being a gentleman in the conventional sense, especially as dictated by European colonialists. In the song, Fela differentiates himself as an "Africa man original," someone who does not conform to the values and behaviors of the Western world. This is symbolized in the song as he talks about how African men are comfortable being shirtless while the Western men wear a suit and coat - sweating and suffering all over. Instead, Fela expresses admiration for the hot and sensual nature of Africa and the natural ways of being that come with it.
The song also speaks to a larger issue of the aftermath of colonialism in Africa. Western colonization attempted to impose their cultural standards onto the African people. Fela saw this as taking away an essential part of African identity and resented the concept of being forced to adhere to rules that do not derive from his cultural background. For him, being an "Africa man original" meant rejecting these imposed standards and embracing who he is and where he comes from.
Overall, the lyrics to "Gentleman" show Fela's rejection of Western norms, reclaiming a sense of African identity that colonialism tried to suppress. Itβs a powerful statement of African pride and cultural freedom that reinforces the importance of self-identification and embracing cultural heritage.
Line by Line Meaning
Mi gbo
I hear
O sele
He has finished
Mi gbo dada
I hear clearly
Mi ti gbo
I have heard
I no be gentleman at all
I am not a gentleman at all
I be Africa man original
I am an original African man
Them call you, make you come chop
They invite you to eat
You chop small, you say you belle full
You eat a little and say you are full
You say you be gentleman, you go hungry
You claim to be a gentleman and suffer hunger
You go suffer, you go quench
You will suffer and eventually satisfy your hunger
Me I no be gentleman like that
I am not a gentleman like that
You dey go your way, the jeje way
You go your way, calmly
Somebody come bring, original trouble
Someone brings real problems
You no talk, you no act, you say you be gentleman
You do not speak or act, but claim to be a gentleman
You go suffer, you go tire, you go quench
You will suffer, tire, and eventually satisfy yourself
Africa hot, I like am so
Africa is hot, I like it like that
I know what to wear, but my friends don't know
I know what to wear, but my friends do not
Him put him socks, him put him shoe
He puts on his socks and shoes
Him put him pant, him put him singlet
He puts on his pants and singlet
Him put him trouser, him put him shirt
He puts on his trousers and shirt
Him put him tie, him put him coat
He puts on his tie and coat
Him come cover all with him hat
He covers everything with his hat
Him be gentleman, him go sweat, all over
He is a gentleman, but will sweat all over
Him go faint right down, him go smell like shit
He will faint right there and smell bad
Him go piss for body, him no go know
He will urinate on himself without even realizing it
I no be gentleman at all, at all
I am not a gentleman at all
Lyrics Β© BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (FRANCE), F.K.O. Music, EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING FRANCE
Written by: FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI, Kuti Fela Anikulapo
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@warriboy9850
Fela Kuti is the best musical artist to emerge from the continent of Africa. He did not compromise on his music and philosophy despite the brutality suffered at the hands of the Nigerian government. He lost his mother a political activist to the brutal regime of the βZombiesβ Nigerian army. Abami Eda RIP
@MRSZ5440
Zombies
@danielolowu7626
sorry my brother he is the best to emerge from this Galaxy
@mathieumarsille133
Merci pour l ancrage
vive
l Afrique
Merci fela kuti ta music
Sa foi dans la justice
Il est devenu l un de mes musiciens. ..
Love Γ©nergie
@alejandrogn4
Bro he might be the best to ever come from this planet
@gusmacker5269
Ee3ee33e33e33e3eee3ea
@officiallanguagesschoolott6172
I love Fela. I have lived in Lagos from 73 to 76 and I used to visit him in his house and at the shrine where he had a bad habit in asking people the next song he should play. And as soon as he noticed me in the crowd he would say NO before I opened my mouth. He knew that I was going to ask for Trouble Sleep (as usual). He hated me for this because he never wanted to play a song that was already recorded. My life in Lagos in those years are unforgettable. I was in my twenties straight from Paris to Yaba. I met there the most wonderful people in the world and unfortunately I have lost tracks of all of them. Sniff! Sniff! Sniff!
@Murrangurk2
wow!
@amihogatai8432
why was it a bad habit? i'm curious.
@piefunk98
@amiho gatai As far as I know he didn't like to play live songs that were previously recorded.