The Black President

Fela Kuti - Open and Close
Fela Kuti - Lady
Fela Kuti - Shakara (Oloje)
Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit
Fela Kuti - J.J.D.
Fela Kuti - Zombie

I've been a bit obsessed with Fela Kuti recently. In fact, for the last month or so I've listened to little else. A massive artist in many ways. Of course I've been aware of Fela for quite some time -- amazingly, my parents saw him play in Nigeria in the early 70s -- but never put in the effort to track down any of his many albums and get into them. I've made up for lost time there though and this post is the result.

Fela Ransome Kuti was born in 1938 in Nigeria to a feminist, anti-colonialist mother and a Protestant minister, school principal father. After schooling he went to London to study music. He formed a band, returned to Nigeria and then in 1969 took the band on tour to the USA. While there he came into contact with the Black Panthers and the black power movement which would influence his politics. In his band Fela played saxophone, organ and sang; he was also very much the band's leader. Fusing jazz, funk and West African highlife, Fela named his music Afrobeat and created a genre.

At just shy of fifteen minutes 'Open and Close' is about the average length for a Fela Kuti tune. It came out in 1971 when Fela's band was called The Africa '70.

'Lady' and 'Shakara (Oloje)' came out one year later as the two sides of one album. What an album! On 'Lady' Fela teases African women for taking on western feminist values, a strange stance considering his mother was a leading campaigner for women's rights and known as the first Nigerian woman to drive a car. On 'Shakara' Fela apparently mocks braggarts who don't follow through on their promises, although I didn't pick that up from listening as parts of it are sung in English and parts in Yoruba.

'Expensive Shit' chronicles one of Fela's many run ins with the Nigerian authorities. This time the police tried to plant a marijuana joint on him, but when presented with the evidence Fela snatched and swallowed it. He was then imprisoned so that it could pass through his system. Fela's excrement was sent to a lab for testing but somehow he managed to swap it with another inmate's and so the tests came back negative. The story is told in a humourus light. Listen out for the unique rhythms of Tony Allen's drumming.

'J.J.D.' or 'Johnny Just Drop' was recorded live in 1977 at the Kalakuti Republic, Fela's communal compound that he declared independent of the Nigerian government. Live, Fela seems to step it up a level. With conga drums and supremely funky horns, 'J.J.D' delivers 23 minutes and 23 seconds of pure joy. Just imagine what it must have been like sweating to the live groove of Fela and his band on that hot Nigerian night.

Perhaps his most important record politically, 'Zombie' was also Fela's most popular. It directly attacked the mindlessness of the Nigerian military. The government were far from pleased and they responded bluntly. 1000 soldiers invaded the Kalakuti Republic and burnt it down. They beat Fela and threw his elderly mother out a window. She subsequently died. This didn't deter Fela, who continued to express his strong political views on his many future releases and was, at times, imprisoned for them. In 1997 when Fela died, more than a million people attended his funeral.

Fela Kuti documentary - Music is a Weapon