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When Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died of AIDS in 1997 at the age of 58, over one million Nigerians attended his funeral at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos Island. After his death, his children continued.
Friday, February 16, 2018
FELA KUTI & AFRICA 70 Expensive shit LP - Nigeria 1975 A.C.A.B. Afrobeat part 2 Download The title of the album refers to an incident in which the Nigerian police tried to arrest Fela Kuti by planting a marijuana joint on him. Kuti managed to eat the joint, prompting police to bring him into custody and wait for him to produce the excrement. Knitting Factory Records reissue ‘Music Of Many Colours’ on black 140g vinyl with digital download code. '‘Music Of Many Colours’ is a joint album between Roy Ayers and Fela Kuti, recorded after a three week tour of Nigeria’s major cities in 1979, during which Roy Ayers performed as the opening act for Fela’s band. The two artists decided to record the album as a round-up to the. Black Times is the fourth album by Seun and Egypt 80, the extraordinary dance orchestra created by Fela Kuti as a conduit for the common people. Inherited by the 14-year- old Seun in 1997, the younger Kuti has been building to this, his most accomplished and honest album yet. “Black Times is a true reflection of my political and social.
By Max Reinhardt
Afrobeat is seeing something of a resurgence – with the release of a Fela documentary and new albums from two of the genre’s greats. Max Reinhardt gets into the groove and highlights ten of the best albums.
1
TONY ALLEN
Film of Life (Jazz Village, 2014)
Tony Allen’s unique ‘highlife meets hard bop meets funk’ drum patterns underpinned and inspired Fela’s Afrobeat. This album finds Allen still an unstoppable force of rhythmic genius in his mid-70s.To quote my review: ‘an instantly enticing nu-Afrobeat groove, in which funky horns, squelchy synths, repetitive guitar and even ukulele catch you in a compelling slipstream’.
2
ANTIBALAS
Antibalas (Daptone, 2012)
One of the finest fruits of Fela’s posthumous Afrobeat realm. From 1998 onwards, baritone saxophonist Martin Perna’s Brooklyn-based Conjunto Antibalas live the music, the sonics, the rhythms and the politics of Afrobeat. This CD is an eruption of tuff, brilliant songs, deliriously powerful playing and potent vocals from Amayo. Reviewed in #87.
3
THE FONTANELLES
Horns of Freedom (First Word Records, 2013)
The band that grew out of the onstage musicians for the London run of Fela! The Musical. This debut is an instrumental Afrobeat tour de force with a pile driving jazzy edge, to which they’ve added Caribbean and swinging Addis grooves. Its many highlights include ‘Afrocat’, ‘Pinprick’ and ‘Horns of Freedom’. Reviewed in #98.
4
![Fela Fela](https://i.imgur.com/xqXf0lT.jpg)
ALHAJI K FRIMPONG
Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu! (Ofo Brothers, 1976)
![Fela kuti real name Fela kuti real name](https://iciap2007.org/images/225/fela-kuti-confusion.jpg)
This album from Alhaji K Frimpong and his Cubano Fiestas is a mid-70s Ghanaian gem clearly influenced by Afrobeat grooves and rhythms though still very much a late period jazzy highlife album. ‘Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu!’ itself remains a dance floor classic.
5
Fela Kuti Religion
ORLANDO JULIUS & THE HELIOCENTRICS
Jaiyede Afro (Strut Records, 2014)
Until Fela’s return from the US in 1970, Orlando Julius and his Afro-funk tunes were the summit of cool for young Lagosians. Then Fela’s Afrobeat, non-stop struggle and legend eclipsed Orlando for decades, but this album is his finest hour. In the company of London’s funky jazztronicists, The Heliocentrics, he creates an Afrobeat sound that you want to climb inside for a week at a time. Reviewed in #103.
6
FELA RANSOME KUTI & AFRICA 70
Expensive Shit/He Miss Road (Knitting Factory Records, 2013)
An explosive, musical and lyrical Fela peak, this is the CD reissue of two of his early 70s vinyls. Originally, the scatological, subversive Afrobeat classic Expensive Shit was backed with the haunting metaphysics and beautiful melody of ‘Water Get No Enemy’, while He Miss Road’s three tracks include the portrait of his city ‘Monday Morning Lagos’ and Tony Allen’s polyrhythmic tour de force ‘It’s No Possible’.
7
FEMI KUTI
Shoki Shoki (Barclay, 1998) How to crack pace ilok download.
This is the fourth album by Fela’s oldest son Femi, who over the last 25 years of non-stop touring has been keeping the flame of Fela’s legacy burning. This is probably his most memorable set of songs, from the sex with a smile on its face of the track ‘Beng Beng Beng’ to the accusatory ‘Sorry Sorry’.
8
SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80
A Long Way to the Beginning (Knitting Factory Records, 2014)
Seun’s angriest, most fiery album to date, leading the band he inherited from his father when just 14 years old. His ever improving voice, even wittier lyrics (‘lMF’) and catchier tunes (ragged highlife wonder ‘Ohun Aiye’), production by Robert Glasper and guest stars like Nneka, M1 and Blitz the Ambassador, make this a heady brew. Reviewed in #100.
Fela Kuti Discography
9
DELE SOSIMI
Identity (Helico Records, 2007)
Dele really is London’s Afrobeat catalyst. He learned keyboards from Fela himself, played with Egypt 80 for seven years, became their arranger and musical director and then did the same with Femi into the 90s. Mail designer pro 3.2.1 for macos. The complex but compelling arrangements of Identity, its songwriting and funkiest of keyboards, all testify to Dele’s finely honed skills and unstoppable dynamism. Drake scorpion zip download. Reviewed in #55.
10
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Red Hot + Fela (Knitting Factory Records, 2013)
A razor-sharp fundraising tool for AIDS awareness that also traces the spread of Fela awareness within the international musical community. The first album, Red Hot + Riot (2002), featured producer and activist Andres Levin at the controls and highlighted Fela’s compositional genius in the hands of a huge cast including Nile Rodgers, Baaba Maal, and Macy Gray. This follow-up moves further out and sweeps luminaries like Kronos Quartet, My Morning Jacket and Spoek Mathambo into the fold. Reviewed in #97.
Today marks 16 years since the death of one of the giants of African history. On a musical level, Fela Kuti founded Afrobeat, the continent’s first style it could truly call its own, free from the influences and controls of western culture. It was much more than this though, growing into a political and social movement not just in Fela’s native Nigeria but across the continent. His music had – and still has – a unique ability to inspire, teach, entertain and move, physically and emotionally.
Built on a British education in jazz, his rhythms oozed funk and energy, but retained a distinctly African sound. The message never strayed from one that preached freedom and pan-Africanism, and through his lyrics, Fela tirelessly campaigned against the Nigerian politicians who sought to deny both. His nightclub, The Shrine, became a bastion for personal, religious, political and social emancipation. Equally as important, it provided an escape through entertainment, inside the oppressive existence of 1970s Nigeria. It’s testament to the courage of Fela’s convictions that, despite decades of the most violent intimidation – including the death of his mother, shortly after being thrown out the window of his home – it was not his oppressors who killed him, but a tumour brought on by AIDS.
Nearly two decades after his death, his importance to Africa remains as big as it ever was, but his influence on western culture also continues to grow. Not only because of the success of the eponymous Broadway musical, or with the growing excitement of a Steve McQueen-produced biopic. But also because of the increasingly prominent role that African sounds are playing in western underground music. The musicians that were inspired by his values and music may not compare on a political level, but as a strong proponent of music’s ability to affect human emotions and behaviour, there’s no doubt that Fela himself would be proud of how his influence has produced more creativity.
To mark this impact, we take a look at how contemporary producers have directly interpreted Fela’s material, by picking out our favourite remixes, samples and covers.
1. Fela Kuti – Shakara (Ossie’s Bump Edit)
Where this remix succeeds so well is by bringing Fela’s distinctive rhythm up to date for a UK dancefloor. Not that Fela’s rhythms sound dated in the slightest, but Ossie injects new life while being sensitive to the original.
2. Fela Kuti – Roforofo Fight (Auntie Flo Remix)
The same goes for this remix, by a Glaswegian producer who is propelling himself to the forefront of a UK scene pushing the fusion of African-influenced dance music. While respecting that famous Fela rhythm, hi-hats, saxes and reverb are put on repeat to create a pulsating interpretation, in touch with the modern dancefloor. Download this for free over at Dummy Mag, in an article where Auntie Flo, Gilles Peterson and others discuss the influence of Fela on their musical careers.
Fela Kuti Rara
And now for something completely different. Ondatrópica, one of Columbia’s foremost ensembles, tackle this 1971 classic with such ease it’s as if they’ve conceived it themselves. The foundations are familiar, but Fela’s Latin transformation takes it to a whole new exciting place. Chop ‘n’ Quench is out now as a single on Soundway Records.
4. Pete Rock & Ini – Grown Man Sport
Fela’s universal appeal stretches to hip-hop as much as electronic music, as Pete Rock expertly demonstrates. He adapts a five second keyboard solo from Water Get No Enemy into another classic beat.
Fela Kuti Raritan
5. Tall Black Guy – Water No Enemy
Fela Kuti Rare
Just up the road from Pete Rock, in Chicago, another producer has expertly sampled Water Get No Enemy with completely different results. Tall Black Guy samples some keys from earlier in the song to creating a soaring and enchanting slice of instrumental hip-hop. Water No Enemy is taken from Brownswood Bubblers 7, which you can buy on Bandcamp.