Fela Kuti
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Fela Anikulapo Kuti (b. Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, October 15 1938 - August 2 1997), or simply "Fela", was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist and political maverick.
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Biography
Fela Kuti was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria to a middle-class family. His mother, Funmilayo, was a feminist active in the anti-colonial movement and his father Israel was the first president of the Nigerian Union Of Teachers. His parents sent him to London in 1958 with the intention of having him study medicine, but he decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a style of music Fela called Afrobeat. The style was a fusion of American jazz with West African highlife. In 1961 Fela married his first wife Remi 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 Nigerian Broadcasting. In 1969 Fela took the band to the United States. While there, Fela discovered the black power movement through Sandra Isodere--a friend 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 were 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, which 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 which he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. Fela set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, named the Afro-Spot and then the 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 English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over Africa, where the languages spoken are very diverse indeed. 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 Africa 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 record was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off vicious attacks against the Kalakuta Republic. In one raid, 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 an army barrack and write two songs, Coffin for Head of State and Unknown Soldier referencing the official inquiry which 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 twenty seven women, many of whom were his dancers and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic. 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 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. In 1983 he again ran for President but was again attacked by police, who threw him in prison on a dubious charge of currency smuggling. After twenty months, the regime changed once again and Fela was released from prison. On Fela's release he divorced his twelve remaining wives. 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.
His album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums altogether. This led to rumors that he was suffering from an illness that he was refusing treatment for. It was announced that he died on August 2, 1997 in Lagos, Nigeria. Later, it was revealed that he succumbed to AIDS-related heart failure.
Music
The musical style performed by Fela Kuti was called Afrobeat, which was essentially a fusion of jazz, funk and West African highlife. Therefore it was characterized by having African style percussion, vocals, and musical structure, along with jazzy horn sections. The "endless groove" was also used, in which a base rhythm of drums, 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. Fela's songs were almost always over ten minutes in length, some reaching the twenty or even thirty minute marks. 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 English, although he did also perform a few songs in the Yoruba language. Fela's main instruments were the saxophone and the keyboards but he also played the trumpet, horn, 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.
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 criticized his fellow Africans (especially the upper class) for betraying traditional African culture. The African culture he believed in also included having many wives (polygamy) and the Kalakuta Republic was formed in part as a polygamist colony. Though not part of African culture, it should be noted though that Fela was very liberal when it came to sex, as he portrayed in some of his songs, like Open and Close. He also expressed views that could be considered sexist.
Select Discography
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1971 | Live ! (with Ginger Baker) | Regal Zonophone / Pathe Marconi |
| 1971 | Why Black Man Dey Suffer | EMI / Decca Afrodesia |
| 1972 | Stratavarious (with Ginger Baker) | Polydor / Atco |
| 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 | Coconut / Creole |
| 1975 | He Miss Road | EMI / Pathe Marconi |
| 1975 | Expensive Shit | Soundwork Shop / Editions Makossa |
| 1976 | No Bread | Soundwork Shop / Editions Makossa |
| 1976 | Kalakuta Show | Kalakuta / Editions Makossa |
| 1976 | Upside Down | Decca 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 | Original Sufferhead | Lagos International / Arista |
| 1981 | Coffin for Head of State | Kalakuta |
| 1983 | Perambulator | Lagos International |
| 1985 | Army Arrangement | Kalakuta / Celluloid |
| 1986 | Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense | Polygram / Barclay |
| 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 / Sterns |
Reference
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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
External links
- Biographical entry in the African Music Encyclopedia (http://africanmusic.org/artists/felakuti.html)
- The Fela Kuti project (http://www.felaproject.net) A multimedia project that explores and commemorates the influence of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti
- Fela Kuti Discography (http://biochem.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~endo/EAFela.html) Large list of Fela's records, both from Koola Lobitos, Africa 70/Egypt 80 and more.
- Kalakuta Republic (http://kalakutarepublic.free.fr/) French website