Fela Kuti Overview

A flagrant marijuana smoker and bridegroom to 27 women in one day, the gloriously rebellious African musician Fela Kuti led a life as tumultuous as the history of his native Nigeria. Jailed several times, Kuti became a voice of dissent against... [more]

A flagrant marijuana smoker and bridegroom to 27 women in one day, the gloriously rebellious African musician Fela Kuti led a life as tumultuous as the history of his native Nigeria. Jailed several times, Kuti became a voice of dissent against the successive military dictatorships that ruled the land. His music served as a rallying point for resistance to the oppressive regimes, and his persona provided inspiration for would-be insurgents worldwide, including no lesser man than Bob Marley. The tension between Kuti and the powers-that-be was not entirely their doing -- he didn't take kindly to any interference in his own domain, a club known as the Shrine, which he started in the 1970s. On a nightly basis the corrugated-iron walls of the place played host to a sea of writhing bodies and a hazy cloud of pot smoke. Often Kuti would take the stage at two or three in the morning, and the concert usually lasted past dawn. When this scene threatened to get out of control, the club was raided by the police. Kuti was jailed briefly after a raid in 1977. Upon his release, he erected an electric fence around the Shrine and declared the compound an independent state, calling it the Kalakuta Republic. Another raid occurred in 1978, under the next military dictatorship. Once again Kuti was imprisoned -- this time with an eight-year sentence. Just before being locked away, he married every female singer and dancer in his band. Such extreme gestures were the only method by which Kuti could express the freedom he held so dear. Shortly after he was released, he concluded that marriage was a bad idea, and divorced the women just as rapidly as he had wed them. Political by nature, yet incredibly creative musically, Kuti was part Miles Davis, part Sun Ra, and part Malcolm X. His parents planted the seeds of political uprising in his young soul, as they were themselves engaged in fighting oppressive colonization by the British (Nigeria gained independence in 1960). Wanting a self-determined life for their son, they sent the young boy to London. Instead of studying medicine as planned, he took his medical grant to the nearest music school where he immersed himself in the study of jazz, concentrating on trumpet, piano, and voice. He began playing in combos all over London and soon began a collaboration with Ginger Baker. Back in Nigeria, Kuti started listening to James Brown, who was breaking sound barriers the world over. By fusing R&B, jazz, and traditional African music, he created a wholly new sound known as Afro-beat. Both his studio albums ("VIP Vagabonds in Power," "Authority Stealing") and live recordings ("Johnny Just Drop") feature thunderous percussion, lengthy improvised solos, and passages of call-and-response vocals (usually with his female chorus of more than 20 women). With Kuti on keyboards and sax, the richly cohesive songs can easily last up to an hour. Lyrically, his work speaks of the common man beaten down by the greedy and power-hungry forces of an oppressive government. Inspired by a tour of the U.S. in 1969, during which he met the Black Panthers, Kuti returned home to impugn and decry the injustices around him. His music and his politics carried across the continent, making him perhaps the most recognized name in African music. In addition to protesting matters in Nigeria, he became an outspoken advocate of Pan-Africanism, the movement expounding the political alliance of all African states. In 1997, when Kuti died of complications related to AIDS, the world mourned. The planet had lost one of the most outrageous and powerful musicians of the century. He was ceremoniously buried in a glass casket with a joint protruding from his lifeless fingers -- a final gesture of defiance. [show less]