Fela Anikulapo Kuti is one of the most significant figures in global music. Afrobeat, the genre he created, has influenced countless bands across many continents. His political stances and defiance towards the Nigerian government is legendary. He was a deeply complicated man, but I’m not going to address that here because someone else has done a phenomenal job of exploring him. That person is Jad Abumrad, and the project is called Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, a 12-part podcast series. It is quite good, so if you want to know more about the man, please go listen to that.
Given that this dispatch comes up on a week when I would regularly be doing a Spins, we’re not doing a history. Instead, I’m going to give you five tracks that give a great diversity of what kind of music Fela and his bands, Africa 70 and Egypt 80, was making and serve as an excellent starter set for those unfamiliar with his music. For the record, I’m not choosing five tracks because I’m lazy. I’m choosing only five tracks because his songs can run quite long, with the shortest track being 12 minutes long. Two of the tracks listed below are almost a hour total.
So, with all that said, let’s get into it. An important side note: if you are to look for these songs on your own music streaming service, I’m always recommending Pt. 1 and 2. Some of the songs are edited. Don’t listen to those; listen to the full-length song.
“Zombie”
I am being irresponsible as a music writer talking about this man if I don’t recommend that you listen to this track. In the space of 13 minutes, you get the clearest distillation of what Fela Kuti is about. There is the hard groove with the rhythm section and the horns. There is the sing-speaking of Kuti once the groove is fully set. Once Kuti starts, his lyrics are eviscerating towards the oppressive Nigerian military. This song is rightfully considered a masterpiece.
“Coffin for Head of State”
This was the first Fela Kuti song that I actively remember listening to. I was in a dorm room at George Washington University with some friends, and this song came on. I was immediately hooked on it, and I went home and looked more into it. That was in 2004 or 2005; I can’t remember the exact date unfortunately. In any case, this song is Kuti detailing how the military junta have oppressed the Nigerian people and robbed them blind. He then goes into how they stormed his compound and killed his mother. It’s a bit somber, but the groove is excellent.
“Pansa Pansa”
I wanted to throw in a bit of a curveball in these five, something that even those familiar with the man might not know. This is the second track on Underground System, his final album. I’ve listened to a lot of this man’s music, and this track has one of the hardest bass lines in the entire catalog. I don’t mean hard in the sense that it is tricky. I mean hard in the sense that it absolutely thumps. It drives and just pulls you along with it. Absolutely phenomenal. It accompanies Kuti detailing the repetition of being a performing artist. An excellent album track for newbies and oldheads alike.
“Confusion”
Kuti and Africa 70 are operating on an extremely high level on this track. Over the course of 25 minutes, they settle into a phenomenal groove that allows Kuti to discuss the difficulties of life in Lagos. This track starts off a little differently with a free-jazz organ-drum discussion between Kuti and drummer Tony Allen. This comes to a resolution and launches into what we know him and his band do best: create excellent, danceable music. While it is not one of the prominent tracks, I think it gives an idea of how much Kuti and his band are truly capable of, and that’s why it serves as a good place to start.
“Shakara”
A truly classic piece from Kuti and Africa 70. There are some truly excellent guitar lines in the Kuti archive, but this is the one that perpetually stands out in my head. It takes clear influence from the JB’s, James Brown’s backing band that had a massive influence on a generation of African artists. (And, I don’t mean the continent generically; his sound influenced artists in various countries.) It smoothly blends with the horns and organ as the percussion shuffles behind it. The track keeps going until the rhythm is set just right, and then you’ve got an undeniable track on your hands.
That’s a starter set for Fela Kuti. If this has made you interested to listen to more, there is plenty more to find—the man made 70 albums and there are also live bootlegs floating out in the world. If you want to learn more about what is happening around him, there are many archival releases that document the music coming out of places like Ethiopia, Ghana, and Benin around the same time. You can hear how they were both interconnected and very different from one another. That is a post for another day.
Thank you for reading the Rinse. If you have enjoyed it, tell a friend. As always, take care of yourselves and each other. Pet a dog or cat if they are OK with it, and never forget that Addison Rae is a psy-op.
