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)—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"), 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 ’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. 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.
Sorrow Tears & Blood
Fela Kuti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everybody run run run
Eh-ya!
Everybody scatter scatter
Eh-ya!
Some people lost some bread
Eh-ya!
Someone nearly die
Someone just die
Eh-ya!
Police they come, army they come
Eh-ya!
Confusion everywhere
Eh-ya!
Everybody run run run
Eh-ya!
Everybody scatter scatter
Eh-ya!
Some people lost some bread
Eh-ya!
Someone nearly die
Eh-ya!
Someone just die
Eh-ya!
Police they come, army they come
Eh-ya!
Confusion everywhere
Eh-ya!
Seven minutes later
All don cool down, brother
Police don go away
Army don disappear
Them leave sorrow, tears and blood
Them regular trademark
Them leave sorrow, tears and blood
Them regular trademark
Them regular trademark
Them regular trademark
La la la la
My people self they fear too much
We fear for the thing we no see
We fear for the air around us
We fear to fight for freedom
We fear to fight for liberty
We fear to fight for justice
We fear to fight for happiness
We always get reason to fear:
We no wan die
We no wan wound
We no wan quench
We no wan go
I get one child
Mama dey for house
Papa dey for house
I wan build house
I don build house
I no want quench
I want enjoy
I no wan go
Ah!
So policeman go slap your face
You no go talk
Army man go whip your yansh
You go they look like donkey
Rhodesia they do them own
Our leaders they yab for nothing
South Africa they do them own
Them leave sorrow, tears and blood
Them regular trademark
Them regular trademark
Them regular trademark
Them regular trademark
Them regular trademark
Regular trademark
Them regular trademark
That is why
Eh-ya!
Everybody run run run
Eh-ya!
Everybody scatter scatter
Eh-ya!
Some people lost some bread
Eh-ya!
Someone nearly die
Eh-ya!
Someone just die
Eh-ya!
Police they come, army they come
Eh-ya!
Confusion everywhere
Ah, na so
Time go they go
Time no wait for nobody
Like that: choo, choo, choo, ah
But police go they come, army go they come
With confusion
In style like this
Fela Kuti's song, Sorrow Tears and Blood, is a socio-political commentary about the state of Nigeria at the time. The lyrics describe chaos and confusion caused by the police and army, resulting in loss of life, loss of property, and fear. Fela Kuti points out that people fear fighting for their freedom, liberty, justice, and happiness because they fear death or injury. The fear is intensified by the violence committed by the authorities like the police, army, and government.
Furthermore, the lyrics suggest that the violence is not limited to Nigeria; it is happening in other African countries. The line, "Rhodesia they do them own, Our leaders they yab for nothing, South Africa they do them own" shows this. Fela Kuti is calling for African unity against oppression and brutality.
The repetition of "Them leave sorrow, tears, and blood" reinforces the idea that this is not a one-time event, but a common occurrence. It has become a regular trademark of the police, army, and government.
One of the interesting facts about the song is that it was released in 1977, a year after 1000 soldiers were sent to the town of Afikpo in Nigeria to suppress riots that had erupted after a referendum. The soldiers reportedly killed over 200 people and destroyed property worth millions of dollars.
Another interesting fact is that the song was banned by the Nigerian government for fear that it would incite violence. Despite the ban, the song became popular, and two years later, Fela Kuti's house was raided by 1000 soldiers who attacked him and his family, burned his house, and threw his mother out of a window, leading to her death.
Line by Line Meaning
Eh-ya!
Starting cry to indicate something bad is happening
Everybody run run run
People are running away in fear
Everybody scatter scatter
People are scattering aimlessly
Some people lost some bread
Some people lost their money or possessions
Someone nearly die
Someone was almost killed
Someone just die
Someone has just been killed
Police they come, army they come
Police and army forces show up
Confusion everywhere
The situation is very chaotic and disorienting
Seven minutes later
After a short time passes
All don cool down, brother
Things have returned to normal, no need to be afraid anymore
Police don go away
Police have left the scene
Army don disappear
Army has left the scene as well
Them leave sorrow, tears and blood
People are left with sadness, grief, and injuries
Them regular trademark
This is a common occurrence
My people self they fear too much
We are very afraid
We fear for the thing we no see
We are afraid of the unknown
We fear for the air around us
We are afraid of our surroundings
We fear to fight for freedom
We're scared to fight for our rights and freedom
We fear to fight for liberty
We're scared to fight for independence
We fear to fight for justice
We're scared to fight for fairness
We fear to fight for happiness
We're scared to fight for our own happiness
We always get reason to fear:
We always find something to be scared of
We no wan die
We don't want to die
We no wan wound
We don't want to be injured
We no wan quench
We don't want to die out
We no wan go
We don't want to leave
I get one child
I have a child
Mama dey for house
My mother is at home
Papa dey for house
My father is at home
I wan build house
I want to build a house
I don build house
I have already built a house
I no want quench
I don't want to die out
I want enjoy
I want to enjoy life
I no wan go
I don't want to leave
Ah!
Exclamation of surprise
So policeman go slap your face
Police officers might slap you in the face
You no go talk
You won't be able to speak up against them
Army man go whip your yansh
Soldiers might whip you in the behind
You go they look like donkey
You will look foolish or beaten down
Rhodesia they do them own
Rhodesia is doing its own thing
Our leaders they yab for nothing
Our leaders criticize each other for no reason
South Africa they do them own
South Africa is doing its own thing as well
Time go they go
Time keeps moving forward
Time no wait for nobody
Time doesn't wait for anyone
In style like this
In this manner
Lyrics © F.K.O. Music, BMG Rights Management, EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING FRANCE, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG VM MUSIC FRANCE
Written by: Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TheIlleventhoughts
Everybody run run run
Everybody scatter scatter
Some people lost some bread
Someone nearly die
Someone just die
Police dey come, army dey come
Confusion everywhere
Hey yeah!
Seven minutes later
All don cool down, brother
Police don go away
Army don disappear
Them leave Sorrow, Tears, and Blood
Them regular trademark!
Them leave Sorrow, Tears, and Blood
Them regular trademark
That is why
Hey yeah!
Everybody run, run, run...
La la la la
My people self dey fear too much
We fear for the thing we no see
We fear for the air around us
We fear to fight for freedom
We fear to fight for liberty
We fear to fight for justice
We fear to fight for happiness
We always get reason to fear
We no want die
We no want wound
We no want quench
We no want go
I get one child
Mama dey for house
Papa…
@princeoludareakintola5758
Fela needs a Netflix movie or documentary, he is a legend!!! if you support hit like 👍
@guillaume-sambasonet3344
He all ready has a documentaire on arte
@bubmoley1194
"Music is the weapon" or "ginger baker in africa"
@frankvairo6666
He is a legend, some dude made a Broadway show about him, I saw a movie about it, called Finding Fela
@nicebahula5315
I vote Fela Kuti Day in every African Calender, 🙋♂️
This Man need to be celebrated in whole African Continent 🌍✅
@MRSZ5440
I second the motion.
@ogatoni8856
Fr
@lunsas
Of course ❤
@Hymn43
I’ll speak on behalf of America; we’d also like to add this honourable Fela Kuti Day to our calendar as well.
🤟🏼
@Hymn43
@Mustake5 Aye