Label: Victor
Jazz
Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti
Born: 15 October 1938, in Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Died: 2 August 1997, of AIDS and heart failure in Lagos, Nigeria.
He formed his first group Koola Lobitos in 1963. The large jazz, funk, and afrobeat collective underwent many changes in the following decades, but the style remained the same thanks to Fela's vision and other key members such as drummer, Tony Allen.
In 1969, after visiting America, Fela returned to Nigeria, opened club Afro Spot in Lagos, and changed the group's name to Nigeria 70. A few years later the name was changed to Afrika 70, which was probably the most famous incarnation as they recorded 17 albums between 1975-77 alone. In 1981, Fela changed the name for the last time to Egypt 80.
Regarding his name change. He was known as Fela Ransome-Kuti until about 1978, when he renamed himself Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the middle name meaning 'he who carries death in his pouch'. He was a human-rights revolutionary who started his own political party, Movement Of The People, to protest the kleptocracy in Nigeria. He had his own compound called the Kalakuta Republic, in Lagos, which he declared independent from Nigeria, where he and his uncountable number of wives lived, and were constantly terrorized by the government. His influence on funk and African music is unsurpassed with approximately 77 albums.
The potent political and musical force embodied by Fela Kuti exploded onto the scene in the late 1960s with a driving rhythmic force that would form Afro-Beat and ultimately change the face of African music. Kuti's explosive music drew on jazz, reggae, traditional African music and a good deal of James Brown soul to create a new style of Funk whose accents shifted in unusual ways. Driven by the percussive drumming of Tony Allen (and at one point, former Cream drummer Ginger Baker), Kuti's music meant the same to the underclass of Nigeria -- and Africa in general -- as Bob Marley's meant to Jamaica. His trumpet, keyboard, tenor and alto sax assisted his vocal shouts, arrangements and brash showmanship as he led any one of his large bands. Though he died in the late 1990s, his music lives on in the band led by his son Femi.
The King of Afrobeat never sold out! All of his music is powerful and very danceable but if I had to pick one album to recommend it would have to be 'Confusion', a symphony of rhythm lead by the aural assault of the awesome drummer, Tony Allen. Also listen for the usual blistering brass-section and magnificent vocals of the man himself, the late, greatly-lamented Fela Anikulapo Kuti. HE WILL LIVE FOREVER!
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01. J.J.D. (Johnny Just Drop. Part 1) 12.26
02. Roforofo Fight 15.38
03. Sorrow Tears & Blood 0.14
04. Water No Get Enemy 10.59
05. Just Like That 22.59
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