Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti | |
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British Nigeria | |
Died | 2 August 1997 Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria | (aged 58)
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1958–1997 |
Labels |
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Website | felakuti |
Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938
Kuti was the son of Nigerian
Life and career
Early life
Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti
Kuti attended
He called his style
1970s
After Kuti and his band returned to Nigeria, the group was renamed (the) Africa '70 as lyrical themes changed from love to social issues.
Kuti set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, first named the Afro-Spot and later the Afrika Shrine, where he both performed regularly and officiated at personalised Yoruba traditional ceremonies in honor of his native ancestral faith. He also changed his name to Anikulapo (meaning "He who carries death in his pouch", with the interpretation: "I will be the master of my own destiny and will decide when it is time for death to take me").[5][21] He stopped using the hyphenated surname "Ransome" because he considered it a slave name.[citation needed]
Kuti's music was popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general.
In 1977, Kuti and Africa 70 released the album
Kuti and his band took up residence in Crossroads Hotel after the Shrine had been destroyed along with the commune. In 1978, he married 27 women, many of whom were dancers, composers, and singers with whom he worked. The marriages served not only to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic but also to protect Kuti and his wives from authorities' false claims that Kuti was kidnapping women.
In 1978 Fela performed at the Berliner Jazztage in Berlin with his band Africa 70. Disappointed by their fees, Tony Allen, the band leader and almost all the musicians resigned.[27] Since then, Baryton player Lekan Animashaun became band leader and Fela created a new group named Egypt80. In 1979, Kuti formed his political party, which he called
1980s and beyond
In 1980 Fela signed an exclusive management with French producer Martin Meissonnier who secured a record deal with Arista records London through A&R Tarquin Gotch. The first album came out in February 1981 under the title of "Black President" with the track "ITT" and on the B-Side "Colonial Mentality" and an edited version of "Sorrow Tears and Blood" (these two tracks recorded with Africa 70 and Tony Allen were unreleased in Europe).[30] Following the release, Fela performed his first European tour (4 concerts in a week) with a suite of 70 people. The tour starting in Paris on March 15, 1981, with a huge crowd estimated at 10000 people,[31] then Brussels, Wien and Strasbourg. "Black President was followed by another album was recorded in Paris in july 1981: "Original Sufferhead",[32] with "Power Show" on the B-side. Fela also recorded the track "Perambulator" in Paris. Arista gave his back freedom to Fela at the end of 1981.[33] French Filmmaker Jean Jacques Flori came to Lagos early 1982 to direct the now classic film "Music is a Weapon". The filmed was broadcast first on Antenne 2 (french TV in 1982). The film producer Stephane Tchalgaldjieff didn't like the film and decided to re edit it for an international release.[34] "V.I.P. (Vagabonds in Power)" and "Authority Stealing" were released in 1980, with the former being a live performance done in Berlin, West Germany.
In 1983, Kuti nominated himself for president
In 1984, Muhammadu Buhari's government, of which Kuti was a vocal opponent, jailed him on a charge of currency smuggling. Amnesty International and others denounced the charges as politically motivated.[36] Amnesty designated him a prisoner of conscience,[37] and other human rights groups also took up his case. After 20 months, General Ibrahim Babangida released him from prison. On his release, Kuti divorced his 12 remaining wives, citing "marriage brings jealousy and selfishness" since his wives would regularly compete for superiority.[26][38]
Kuti continued to release albums with Egypt 80 and toured in the United States and Europe while continuing to be politically active. In 1986, he performed in
Kuti's album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually, he ceased releasing albums altogether. On 21 January 1993,[39] he and four members of Africa 70 were arrested and were later charged on 25 January for the murder of an electrician.[40] Rumours also speculated that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. However, there had been no confirmed statement from Kuti about this speculation.
Death
On 3 August 1997, Kuti's brother Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent
Music
Music
Kuti's musical style is called
Kuti's band was notable for featuring two
Some elements often present in Kuti's music are the call-and-response within the chorus and figurative but simple lyrics. His songs were also very long, at least 10–15 minutes in length, and many reached 20 or 30 minutes, while some unreleased tracks would last up to 45 minutes when performed live. Their length was one of many reasons that his music never reached a substantial degree of popularity outside Africa. His LP records frequently had one 30-minute track per side. Typically there is an "instrumental introduction" jam section of the song roughly 10–15 minutes long before Kuti starts singing the "main" part of the song, featuring his lyrics and singing, for another 10–15 minutes. On some recordings, his songs are divided into two parts: Part 1 being the instrumental, and Part 2 adding in vocals.
Kuti's songs are mostly sung in Nigerian Pidgin English, although he also performed a few songs in the Yoruba language. His main instruments were the saxophone and the keyboards, but he also played the trumpet, electric guitar, and the occasional drum solo. Kuti refused to perform songs again after he had already recorded them, which hindered his popularity outside Africa[citation needed].
The subject of Kuti's songs tended to be very complex. They regularly challenged common received notions in the manner of
Showmanship
Kuti was known for his showmanship, and his concerts were often outlandish and wild. He referred to his stage act as the "Underground Spiritual Game". Many expected him to perform shows like those in the Western world, but during the 1980s, he was not interested in putting on a "show". His European performance was a representation of what was relevant at the time and his other inspirations.[3] He attempted to make a movie but lost all the materials to the fire that was set to his house by the military government in power.[49] He thought that art, and thus his own music, should have political meaning.[3]
Kuti's concerts also regularly involved female singers and dancers, later dubbed as "Queens." The Queens were women who helped influence the popularization of his music. They were dressed colorfully and wore makeup all over their bodies that expressed their visual creativity. The singers of the group played a backup role for Kuti, usually echoing his words or humming along, while the dancers would put on a performance of an erotic manner. This began to spark controversy due to the nature of their involvement with Kuti's political tone, along with the reality that a lot of the women were young.[38]
Kuti was part of an Afrocentric consciousness movement that was founded on and delivered through his music. In an interview included in Hank Bordowitz's Noise of the World, Kuti stated:
Music is supposed to have an effect. If you're playing music and people don't feel something, you're not doing shit. That's what African music is about. When you hear something, you must move. I want to move people to dance, but also to think. Music wants to dictate a better life, against a bad life. When you're listening to something that depicts having a better life, and you're not having a better life, it must have an effect on you.[50]
Political views and activism
Activism
Kuti was highly engaged in political activism in Africa from the 1970s until his death. He criticized the corruption of Nigerian government officials and the mistreatment of Nigerian citizens. He spoke of colonialism as the root of the socio-economic and political problems that plagued the African people. Corruption was one of the worst political problems facing Africa in the 1970s and Nigeria was among the most corrupt countries. Its government rigged elections and performed coups that ultimately worsened poverty, economic inequality, unemployment, and political instability, further promoting corruption and crime. Kuti's protest songs covered themes inspired by the realities of corruption and socio-economic inequality in Africa. Kuti's political statements could be heard throughout Africa.[49]
Kuti's open vocalization of the violent and oppressive regime controlling Nigeria did not come without consequence. He was arrested on over 200 different occasions and spent time in jail, including his longest stint of 20 months after his arrest in 1984. On top of jail time, the corrupt government sent soldiers to beat Kuti, his family and friends, and destroy wherever he lived and whatever instruments or recordings he had.[51][49]
In the 1970s, Kuti began to run outspoken political columns in the advertising space of daily and weekly newspapers such as The Daily Times and The Punch, bypassing editorial censorship in Nigeria's predominantly state-controlled media.[52] Published throughout the 1970s and early 1980s under the title "Chief Priest Say", these columns were extensions of Kuti's famous Yabi Sessions—consciousness-raising word-sound rituals, with himself as chief priest, conducted at his Lagos nightclub. Organized around a militantly Afrocentric rendering of history and the essence of black beauty, "Chief Priest Say" focused on the role of cultural hegemony in the continuing subjugation of Africans. Kuti addressed many topics, from fierce denunciations of the Nigerian Government's criminal behavior, Islam and Christianity's exploitative nature, and evil multinational corporations; to deconstructions of Western medicine, Black Muslims, sex, pollution, and poverty. "Chief Priest Say" was eventually canceled by The Daily Times and The Punch. Many have speculated that the paper's editors were pressured to stop publication, including threats of violence.[citation needed]
Political views
"Imagine Che Guevara and Bob Marley rolled into one person and you get a sense of Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti."
—Herald Sun, February 2011[53]
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.
In 1978 Kuti became a polygamist when he simultaneously married 27 women.[58][59] 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,[60] 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.[60] 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!"[61] Some characterize his views towards women as misogyny and typically cite songs like "Mattress" as further evidence.[62][63] 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".[63] 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".[60]
Kuti was also an outspoken critic of the United States. At a meeting during his 1981
Legacy
Kuti is remembered as an influential icon who voiced his opinions on matters that affected the nation through his music. Since 1998, the Felabration festival, an idea pioneered by his daughter Yeni Kuti,[64] is held each year at the New Afrika Shrine to celebrate the life of this music legend and his birthday. Since Kuti's 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 shows, and new bands, such as Antibalas, who carry the Afrobeat banner to a new generation of listeners.
In 1999,
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.[65][58][66]
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.[67]
The 2007 film
In 2008, an
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
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.
A biographical film by Focus Features, directed by Steve McQueen and written by Biyi Bandele, was rumoured to be in production in 2010, with Chiwetel Ejiofor in the lead role.[73] 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".[74]
The 2019 documentary film My Friend Fela (Meu amigo Fela) by Joel Zito Araújo, explores the complexity of Kuti's life "through the eyes and conversations" of his biographer Carlos Moore.[75]
The collaborative jazz/afrobeat album Rejoice by Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela, released in 2020, includes the track "Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be the Same)", a tribute to Kuti, through whom Allen and Masekela first met in the 1970s.[76][77]
Kuti's song "Zombie" has appeared in the video game
In 2021, Hulu released a six-episode documentary miniseries, 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."[79]
On 1 November 2021, a blue plaque was unveiled by the Nubian Jak Community Trust at 12 Stanlake Road, Shepherd's Bush, where Kuti first lived when he came to London in 1958 and was studying music at Trinity College.[80][81] The event included tributes from Kuti's daughter Shalewa Ransome-Kuti, Resonance FM broadcaster Debbie Golt, Kuti's former manager Rikki Stein, cover artist Lemi Ghariokwu, and others.[82][83][84]
In 2022, Kuti was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.[85] In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Kuti at number 188 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[86]
Discography
- Studio albums
- Fela Fela Fela (1970)
- Fela's London Scene (1971)
- Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971)
- Open & Close (1971)
- Na Poi (1971)
- Shakara (1972)
- Roforofo Fight (1972)
- Afrodisiac (1973)
- Gentleman (1973)
- Alagbon Close (1974)
- Noise for Vendor Mouth (1975)
- Confusion (1975)
- Everything Scatter (1975)
- Expensive Shit (1975)
- He Miss Road (1975)
- Unnecessary Begging (1976)
- Kalakuta Show (1976)
- Upside Down (1976)
- Ikoyi Blindness (1976)
- Before I Jump Like Monkey Give Me Banana (1976)
- Excuse-O (1976)
- Yellow Fever (1976)
- Zombie (1977)
- Stalemate (1977)
- No Agreement (1977)
- Sorrow Tears and Blood (1977)
- Shuffering and Shmiling (1978)
- Unknown Soldier (1979)
- I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) (1980)
- Music of Many Colours (1980) (with Roy Ayers)
- Authority Stealing (1980)
- Original Sufferhead (1981)
- Perambulator (1983)
- Army Arrangement (1985)
- I Go Shout Plenty (1986)
- Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (1986)
- Beasts of No Nation (1989)
- Confusion Break Bones (1990)
- O.D.O.O. (Overtake Don Overtake Overtake) (1990)
- Underground System (1992)
- Lagos Baby 1963 to 1969 (2008)
- Live albums
- Live! (with Ginger Baker) (1971)
- J.J.D. (Johnny Just Drop!!) (1977)
- V.I.P. (Vagabonds in Power) (1979)
- Live in Amsterdam (1983)
- Live in Detroit 1986 (2010)
- Compilations
- The Best Best of Fela Kuti (1999)
- The Underground Spiritual Game (2004)
- The Best of the Black President 2 (2013)
Filmography
- Arena - Fela Kuti: Father of Afrobeat,2020 Plimsoll MamaPut Film for BBC
- My Friend Fela, 2019, Joel Zito Araújo (Casa de Criação Cinema)
- Finding Fela, 2014, Alex Gibney and Jack Gulick (Jigsaw Productions)
- Femi Kuti — Live at the Shrine, 2005, recorded live in Lagos, Nigeria (Palm Pictures)
- Fela Live! Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Egypt '80 Band, 1984, recorded live at Glastonbury, England (Yazoo)
- Fela Kuti: Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense & Berliner Jazztage '78 (Double Feature), 1984 (Lorber Films)
- Fela in Concert, 1981 (VIEW)
- Music Is the Weapon, 1982, Stéphane Tchalgadjieff and Jean-Jacques Flori (Universal Music)
References
Notes
- ^ "Fela Kuti – 10 of the best". The Guardian. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ a b Albert Oikelome. "Stylistic Analysis of Afrobeat Music of Fela Anikulapo Kuti" (PDF). Analysisworldmusic.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ^ JSTOR 1145717.
- ^ AllMusic
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Barrett, Lindsay (September 2011) [March 1998]. "Fela Kuti: Chronicle of A Life Foretold". The Wire. No. 169. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ^ Ogunnaike, Lola (17 July 2003). "Celebrating the Life and Impact of the Nigerian Music Legend Fela". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
- ^ Hamilton, Janice. Nigeria in Pictures, p. 70.
- ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
- ^ "Origin of NUT". nut-nigeria.org. Nigeria Union of Teachers. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ProQuest 2233905339.
- ^ "Fela Kuti remembered: 'He was a tornado of a man, but he loved humanity'". The Guardian. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1986".
- ^ Spencer, Neil (30 October 2010). "Fela Kuti remembered: 'He was a tornado of a man, but he loved humanity'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ The Journal of Pan African Studies. 1: 26–46.
- ^ Loyal Nana, February 26, 2019 - FELA KUTI - Eleanor Igwe
- ^ "VANGUARD". allafrica. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ^ David Ryshpan. "Victor Olaiya, All Star Soul International". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ^ Arogundade, Funsho (12 October 2015). "Sandra Iszadore, Fashola, Ajibade, others speak at Felabration". PM News. Nigeria. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
- L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- OCLC 65189067.[page needed]
- ^ "Meaning of Anikulapo in". Nigerian.name. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ "Fela Anikulapo Kuti: The 'ghost' resurrects and the beat goes on, a preview by The Independence". Emnnews.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ Bobby Gass credits, AllMusic
- ^ Matthew McKinnon (12 August 2005). "Rebel Yells: A protest music mixtape". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ISBN 978-0991073016.
- ^ a b Culshaw, Peter (15 August 2004). "The big Fela". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (2 May 2020). "Tony Allen, Drummer Who Created the Beat of Afrobeat, Dies at 79". The New York Times.
- ^ ISBN 9780819575401.
- ^ Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon. Directors Jean-Jacques Flori and Stephane Tchalgadjieff. 1982. Universal Import. March 2004.
- ^ "Fela Anikulapo Kuti - Black President". Discogs.
- ^ "Fela Anikulapo Kuti à l'Hippodrome de Paris". Le Monde.fr. 16 March 1981.
- ^ "Felá Anikũlapo-Kuti - Original Sufferhead". Discogs.
- ^ "Fela Kuti, une histoire française". August 2017.
- ^ "Music is the Weapon".
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 Arsenal TV3 Catalonian TV 1987-08-04". YouTube. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
- ^ Adenekan, Shola (15 February 2006). "Obituary: Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Success stories". Amnesty International. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ S2CID 194782043.
- ^ Akinyemi, Oluwamayowa. "NOSTALGIA: 28 Years Ago Today, Fela Kuti Was Arrested On Suspicion Of Murder - A New Touch of Africa". Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- ^ "NIGERIAN MUSICIAN FELA CHARGED WITH MURDER". The Washington Post. 25 January 1993. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- ^ Schoofs, Mark (3 November 1999). "Part 2: A Tale of Two Brothers". The Village Voice.
- ^ "Fela Did Not Die of AIDS, Widow Insists". Daily Times Nigeria. 29 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-0991073016.
- ^ "Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ "Fela Kuti and the Legacy of Afrobeat". 22 May 2012.
- ^ As Iwedi Ojinmah points out in his article "Baba is Dead – Long Live Baba,"
- ^ Williamson, Nigel (1 May 2020). "Giants of Afrobeat: an interview with Tony Allen and Orlando Julius". Songlines. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ISBN 979-10-92312-07-2, retrieved 4 December 2022
- ^ a b c Darnton, John (24 July 1977). "NIGERIA'S DISSIDENT SUPERSTAR". The New York Times.
- ^ Bordowitz, Hank (2004). Noise of the World: Non-Western Musicians In Their Own Words. Canada: Soft Skull Press. p. 170.
- ^ "20 years after Fela's death, his music, lifestyle and influence lives on » YNaija". YNaija. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- GFDL.
- ^ Blanche Clarke, "Man of Beats Brings a Message with him", Herald Sun, 4 February 2011.
- JSTOR 20640673.
- ^ Denselow, Robin (1 April 2015). "Nigeria's new president Muhammadu Buhari – the man who jailed Fela Kuti". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- S2CID 145682238.
- ISBN 9781137426086.
- ^ ISBN 9780819575401.
- ISBN 9781556528354.
- ^ ISBN 978-0991073016.
- ^ "Naija News". NaijaTab.com. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ Stanovsky, Derek (1998). "Fela and His Wives: The Import of a Postcolonial Masculinity". Jouvert. english.chass.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Project MUSE 29585.
- ^ "Felabration 2019: How We Came About the Theme, 'From Lagos, With Love!' – Yeni Kuti". The News. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Black President: the Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti", New Museum Digital Archive.
- ^ Koirala, Snigdha. "—Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, New Museum of Contemporary Art". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 29 November 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Bilal (9 May 2011). "Bilal Interview – Bonafide Exclusive". Bonafide Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Alex Nagshineh. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ Bossler, Gregory (13 July 2012). "Fela!: Review Roundup". Gregorybossler.com. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ^ Reedy, R. Scott (3 May 2012). "Theatergoers can't stay in their seats during 'Fela!'". Marshfield Mariner. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ^ "Tony Award Nominations, 2010". Archived from the original on 9 May 2010.
- ^ Gans, Andrew, and Adam Hetrick. "Fela! Will Play Limited Summer Return Engagement on Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
{{cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Chick, Stevie (4 March 2013). "BBC - Music - Review of Fela Kuti - The Best of the Black President 2". BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ Mike Fleming Jr (4 May 2010). "As 'Fela!' Lands 11 Tony Noms, Pic On The Musician/Activist Signs Chiwetel Ejiofor". Deadline.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- ^ Ginsberg, Merle; Baum, Gary (9 January 2014). "Fela Kuti Biopic Soldiers On, Without Steve McQueen or Focus Features". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ "My Friend Fela", IFFR.
- ^ Denselow, Robin (19 March 2020). "Tony Allen: Afrobeat's master on Hugh Masekela, Damon Albarn and friction with Fela Kuti". The Guardian.
- ^ Music News (23 March 2020). "Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela Pay Tribute to Fela In 'Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be The Same)'". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ Harris, Latesha (10 February 2021). "Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner Among 16 Nominees For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame". NPR. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ Ruggieri, Melissa. "Paul recalls The Beatles' 'laboratory'", USA Today, Monday, 19 July 2021, p. 7B.
- ^ "Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti honoured with blue plaque in Shepherds Bush". H&F (Hammersmith & Fulham). 3 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ "Fela Kuti honoured with Blue Plaque at former London home". The Voice. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ Smith, Eugene (3 November 2021). "Another Fela Kuti Plaque unveiled in London". African Voice. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
- ^ "New Blue Plaque Honours Local Afrobeat Legend". The Chiswick Herald. 4 November 2021. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
- ^ Nkrumah, Afrikatu Kofi (1 November 2021). "Fela Kuti, godfather of Afrobeat, honoured with a blue heritage plaque in London, England". GhanaWeb. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
- ^ Conteh, Mankaprr (22 February 2022). "More Excellence: Snoop Dogg, Fela Kuti, Berry Gordy Honored at Atlanta's Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ "The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
Further reading
- Alimi, Shina; Anthony, Iroju Opeyemi (15 September 2013). "No agreement today, no agreement tomorrow: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and human rights activism in Nigeria" (PDF). Journal of Pan African Studies. 6 (4): 74–95. Gale A356354162.
- Bordowitz, Hank (2004). Noise of the World:Non-Western Musicians In Their Own Words. Soft Skull Press. Canada.
- Chude, Olisaemeka (11 November 2015), "Let's keep felabrating" Archived 31 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Ayiba magazine
- Idowu, Mabinuori Kayode (2002). Fela, le Combattant. Le Castor Astral. France.
- Moore, Carlos (1982). Fela, Fela! This Bitch of a Life. Allison & Busby. UK. (Authorised biography). New edition Chicago Review Press, 2009 (with Introduction by Margaret Busby and foreword by Gilberto Gil); Nigerian edition Cassava Republic Press (with Prologue by Lindsay Barrett).
- Ogunyemi, Christopher Babatunde (2 October 2021). "Fela Kuti's Black consciousness: African cosmology and the re-configuration of Blackness in 'colonial mentality'". African Identities. 19 (4): 487–501. S2CID 225491880.
- Olorunyomi, Sola (2002). Afrobeat: Fela and the Imagined Continent. Africa World Press. USA.
- Olaniyan, Tejumola (2004). Arrest the Music! Fela and his Rebel Art and Politics. Indiana University Press. USA.
- Schoonmaker, Trevor, ed. (2003). Fela: From West Africa to West Broadway. Palgrave Macmillan. USA.
- Schoonmaker, Trevor, ed. (2003). Black President: The Art & Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. ISBN 0-915557-87-8.
- Sithole, Tendayi (July 2012). "Fela Kuti and the oppositional lyrical power". Muziki. 9 (1): 1–12. S2CID 142993486.
- Stewart, Alexander (2013). "Make It Funky: Fela Kuti, James Brown and the Invention of Afrobeat". American Studies. 52 (4): 99–118. ProQuest 1498087584.
- Veal, Michael E. (1997). Fela: The Life of an African Musical Icon. Temple University Press. USA.
- Wilmer, Val (September 2011), "Fela Kuti in London", in The Wire, No. 331.
External links
- Official website
- Fela Kuti at AllMusic
- Fela Kuti discography at Discogs
- Fela Kuti at IMDb
- Alex Hannaford, "'He was in a godlike state'", The Guardian, 25 July 2007.
- Fela Kuti biography at World Music Central; includes biography and discography