Fela Kuti
MCA Music
2000
“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”—a famous quote from Emma Goldman, but it could just as well have come from Fela Anikulapo Kuti. For over 30 years, he brought fear and consternation to the Nigerian government, and hope and pride to its people, through his music and the political statements he wrapped in it.
So much of what is currently labeled “World Music” shows Fela’s influence that it wouldn’t be too far from the mark to say that he originated it. By combining the lean funk of James Brown with Nigerian high-life music and jazz, the genre known as Afro-Beat was born, and Fela was its father. By marrying this groove to a strong pro-African stance and an outspoken political temperament, he became a hero to millions in Africa and elsewhere.
“So what about the music?” you ask. Over the course of his career, Fela produced over 70 albums, most of which are currently out of print and have been for a long time. MCA, fortunately, has begun a reissue project that covers many of the highlights of his ’70s and ’80s output. The Best Best of is a 2-CD set of highlights from those releases, chosen by his son Femi Kuti, himself a well-known musician.
The tracks are arranged chronologically, which makes the set an interesting way to follow both the evolution of Fela’s music and his political thinking. Some highlights:
- ?Gentleman? ? A statement on African identity, where he mocks those who sought to take on European dress and customs, over a percolating beat and a bright blast of horns & chorus.
- ?Water No Get Enemy? ? One of Fela?s most deeply symbolic & lyrical songs, likening the flow of water to the natural flow of human society. The water and the people are what underpin everything, and the song itself, although quite long, underscores this idea of flow with great interplay between the bass, sax, and the rest of the horn section.
- ?Coffin for Head of State? ? A musical eulogy for Fela’s mother, who died partially as a result of injuries suffered when the Nigerian Army attacked his compound, the Kalakuta Republic, in 1977. It attacks the army and also the Christian and Muslim leaders in Nigeria, who he saw as corrupted by wealth and power.
Fela’s music, while it has a strong social message, follows Emma Goldman’s dictum above. It’s eminently danceable, and revolutionary both in its many stylistic fusions and its politics. It’s also ultimately about the joy of self-identity, the quest for freedom and the triumph of human spirit in the face of oppression, and well worth repeated listening.
[Originally published in Reclaiming Quarterly #92, Winter 2004]