Today mark 24years Fela Anikulapo Kuti died
Kuti's lyrics expressed his inner thoughts. His
rise in popularity throughout the 1970s signaled a change in the relation
between music as an art form and Nigerian socio-political discourse.[41] In 1984, he critiqued and insulted the authoritarian
then-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.[42] "Beast Of No Nation", one of his most popular
songs, refers to Buhari as an "animal in a madman's body"; in
Nigerian Pidgin: "No be outside Buhari dey ee / na craze man be dat /
animal in craze man skini." Kuti strongly believed in Africa and always
preached peace among its people. He thought the most important way for them to
fight European cultural imperialism was to support traditional religions and
lifestyles in their continent.[2] The American
Black Power movement
also influenced Kuti's political views; he supported Pan-Africanism and socialism and called for a united,
democratic African republic.[43][44] African leaders he
supported during his lifetime include Kwame Nkrumah and Thomas Sankara.[21] Kuti was a candid
supporter of human rights, and
many of his songs are direct attacks against dictatorships, specifically
the militaristic governments of Nigeria in
the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a social commentator and criticized fellow
Africans (especially the upper class) for betraying traditional African
culture.
In 1978 Kuti became a polygamist when he simultaneously married
27 women.[45][46] The highly publicized
wedding served many purposes: it marked the one year anniversary of Kuti and
his wives surviving the Nigerian government's attack on the Kalakuta Republic
in 1977,[47] and also formalized
Kuti's relationships with the women living with him; this legal status
prevented the Nigerian government from raiding Kuti's compound on the grounds
that Kuti had kidnapped the women.[47] Kuti also described
polygamy as logical and convenient: "A man goes for many women in the
first place. Like in Europe, when a man is married when the wife is sleeping,
he goes out and sleeps around. He should bring the women in the house, man, to
live with him, and stop running around the streets!"[48] Some characterize his
views towards women as misogyny and
typically cite songs like "Mattress" as further evidence.[49][50] In a more complex
example, he mocks African women's aspiration to European standards of ladyhood
while extolling the values of the market woman in "Lady".[50] However, Kuti also
critiqued what he considered aberrant displays of African masculinity. In his
songs "J.J.D. (Johnny Just Drop)" and "Gentleman," Kuti
mocks African men's culturally and politically inappropriate adoption of
European standards and declares himself "African man: Original".[47]
Kuti was also an outspoken critic of the United States. At a
meeting during his 1981 Amsterdam tour, he
"complained about the psychological warfare that American organizations
like ITT and the CIA waged
against developing nations in terms of language". Because terms such
as Third World, undeveloped,
or—even worse—non-aligned countries imply
inferiority, Kuti felt they should not be used.[45]
Legacy
Kuti is remembered as an influential icon who voiced his
opinions on matters that affected the nation through his music. The Felabration festival
at the New Afrika Shrine is held each year to
celebrate the life of this music legend and his birthday. Since his death in
1997, there has been a revival of his influence in music and popular culture,
culminating in another re-release of his catalog controlled by UMG, Broadway and off-Broadway biographically
based shows, and new bands, such as Antibalas,
who carry the Afrobeat banner to a new generation of listeners.
In 1999, Universal Music France, under Francis Kertekian,
remastered the 45 albums that it owned and released them on 26 compact discs.
These titles were licensed globally, except in Nigeria and Japan, where other companies
owned Kuti's music. In 2005, the American operations of UMG licensed all of its
world-music titles to the UK-based label Wrasse Records,
which repackaged the same 26 discs for distribution in the United States (where
they replaced the titles issues by MCA)
and the UK. In 2009, Universal created a new deal for the US and Europe,
with Knitting Factory Records and PIAS respectively,
which included the release of the Broadway cast recording of the musical Fela! In
2013, FKO Ltd., the entity that owned the rights to all of Kuti's compositions,
was acquired by BMG Rights Management.
In 2003, the Black President exhibition debuted
at the New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York, and featured concerts,
symposia, films, and 39 international artists' works.[51][45][52]
American singer Bilal recorded a remake of Kuti's
1977 song "Sorrow Tears and Blood" for his second
album, Love for Sale, featuring a guest rap
by Common. Bilal cited Kuti's mix of jazz
and folk tastes
as an influence on his music.[53]
The 2007 film The Visitor, directed by Thomas
McCarthy, depicted a disconnected professor (Richard Jenkins)
who wanted to play the djembe; he learns from a young Syrian (Haaz Sleiman)
who tells the professor he will never truly understand African music unless he
listens to Kuti. The film features clips of Kuti's "Open and Close"
and "Je'nwi Temi (Don't Gag Me)".
In 2008, an off-Broadway production
of Kuti's life, entitled Fela! that was inspired by the 1982 book Fela,
Fela! This Bitch of a Life by Carlos Moore,[54][55] began with a collaborative workshop
between the Afrobeat band Antibalas and Tony award-winner Bill T. Jones.
The production was a massive success, and sold-out performances during its run
and gained critical acclaim. On 22 November 2009, Fela! began
a run on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. Jim Lewis helped
co-write the script (along with Jones) and obtained producer backing from Jay-Z and Will Smith,
among others. On 4 May 2010, Fela! was nominated for 11 Tony Awards,
including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for
Bill T. Jones, Best Leading
Actor in a Musical for Sahr Ngaujah,
and Best Featured
Actress in a Musical for Lillias White.[56] In 2011, the London production of Fela! (staged
at the Royal National Theatre) was filmed.[45] On 11 June 2012, it was announced
that Fela! would return to Broadway for 32 performances.[57]
On 18 August 2009, DJ J.Period released
a free mixtape to
the general public, entitled The Messengers. It is a collaboration
with Somali-born
hip-hop artist K'naan paying tribute to Kuti, Bob Marley,
and Bob Dylan.
Two months later, Knitting Factory Records began re-releasing
the 45 titles controlled by UMG, starting with yet another re-release in the US
of the compilation The Best of the Black President, which
was completed and released in 2013.[58]
Fela Son of Kuti: The Fall of Kalakuta is a stage play written by Onyekaba
Cornel Best in 2010. It has had triumphant acclaim as part of that year's
Felabration and returned in 2014 at the National Theatre and Freedom Park in Lagos. The play deals with
events in a hideout, a day after the fall of Kalakuta.
The full-length documentary film Finding Fela,
directed by Alex Gibney, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Fela Kuti statue at Ikeja, Lagos
A biographical film by Focus Features,
directed by Steve McQueen and written by Biyi Bandele,
was rumored to be in production in 2010, with Chiwetel Ejiofor in
the lead role.[59] However, by 2014, the proposal was no
longer produced under Focus Features, and while he maintained his role as the
main writer, McQueen was replaced by Andrew Dosunmu as
the director. McQueen told The Hollywood Reporter that the film
was "dead".[60]
Kuti's song "Zombie" has appeared in the video
game Grand Theft Auto: IV, and he was
posthumously nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.[61]
In 2021, Hulu released a six-episode documentary entitled
"McCartney 3, 2, 1," in which Paul McCartney is quoted as saying of a
visit to see Fela Kuti at the African Shrine, Kuti's club outside of Lagos, in
the early 1970s, "The music was so incredible that I wept. Hearing that
was one of the greatest music moments of my life."[62]
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