Opposite People by Fela Kuti & Afrika 70
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-afrika-70-opposite-people/
“Opposite People” by Fela Kuti is a rant expressing his aggravation with people who are contrary or go against the grain of the crowd.
His annoyance extends to a person who ruins the fun of a group of people dancing, or someone who is trying to speak seriously when […]
Newen Afrobeat Feat. Seun Kuti – Opposite People (live)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/newen-afrobeat-seun-kuti-opposite-people/
Opposite People with Seun Kuti and Cheick Tidiane Seck on keyboard too… This is a Fela’s cover by the Chilean band/collective Newen Afrobeat.
Cover art by Fela Kuti’s historic designer Ghariokwu Lemi.
Newen Afrobeat, Chilean collective
https://amf.didiermary.fr/chilean-collective-newen-afrobeat-curiche/
The Chilean collective Newen Afrobeat gets inspiration from Fela’s music and activism. In Chile, or rather, in all of South America, there’s no real information about Africa. There is a lot of ignorance about that big continent that has a lot of different cultures, but we just think of it as “Africa.” Like it’s just […]
Fela Kuti and Egypt 80 – Beasts Of No Nation (live)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-egypt-80-beasts-no-nation-live/
“Beasts of No Nation” a été produit par Wally Badarou. Fela Kuti commença à réfléchir à l’album pendant une détention pour infraction aux devises étrangères et termina la chanson à sa sortie de prison.
Il y accuse le gouvernement Nigérian et l’armée de diverses atteintes à l’égard des populations du pays. Il y évoque également [...]
Fela Kuti’s 1972 classic, “Lady.”
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-lady/
Shakara is a two-track release of 13-minute songs that showcase Fela’s satirical side.
“Lady,” perhaps one of Fela’s most popular tracks, criticizes westernized African women who he felt had been corrupted by their embrace of the new feminist movement of the time.
“Shakara” is another lyrically lambasting track that takes […]
Fela Kuti – Zombie
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-zombie/
Zombie was released around 76/77. It’s one of the iconic Fela’s songs, a harsh critique of the Nigerian soldiers who blindly follow, usually inhumane, orders.
Fela paid a big price for this bold condemnation of the military institution.One thousand members of the Nigerian army attacked and burnt down his house after the release of the […]
The Boy’s Doin’ It (1975)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/boys-doin-it-1975-masekela-fela-kuti/
The Boy’s Doin’ It is the 17th studio album by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, recorded in New York City and in Lagos, and released in June 1975.
So many incredible musicians on one album, dedicated to Fela Kuti and the women of the world: Okyerema Asante, Orlando Julius, the rhythm brothers Stanley & Frankie Todd, [...]
#FelaKuti #HughMasekela #Jazz #OrlandoJulius #SouthAfrica #AfroJazz
Anelis – Sonhando Feat. Karina Buhr
https://amf.didiermary.fr/anelis-sonhando-karina-buhr/
Normally existing between rap, downtempo and Brazilian influences, Anelis Assumpção samples Fela Kuti’s “Mr. Grammarticalogylisationalism Is the Boss” on this song featuring Karina Buhr. [...]
Fela Kuti – Roforofo Fight
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-roforofo-fight/
Roforofo Fight refers to senseless violence: it describes 2 fools who batter themselves into the mud as a crowd gathers to watch them.
Roforofo Fight is about human intolerance towards each other. Issues that could be resolved amicably usually end up in fist fights. Sometimes such fights end up bloody or muddy. Dramatizing the scenario […]
Fela Kuti – Sorrow, Tears & Blood
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-sorrow-tears-blood/
“Sorrow, Tears and Blood”, a 10-minute track from 1977 with Africa 70, has Fela Kuti calling out the unjust killings that occurred in Nigeria, South Africa and all of the continent more broadly, under multiple authoritarian and totalitarian rules. […]
Basa Basa Soundz Feat. Fela Kuti – Dr Solutsu
https://amf.didiermary.fr/basa-basa-soundz-dr-solutsu-fela-kuti/
Ghanaian Afro-pop group, Basa Basa Soundz visited Lagos, Nigeria in 1976 to record an album at Decca Records. Afro beat legend, Fela Kuti was around the studios at that time and he liked what he heard of the band and he decided to record a track with them and it was “Dr. Solutsu.” […]
Fela Kuti Special
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-special-documentary/
This post “Fela Kuti Special” is a selection of documentaries on the life, music and political commitment of the great Nigerian musician and how he evolved from Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the man with “death in his pouch.”
Nigeria Afrobeat Special
https://amf.didiermary.fr/nigeria-afrobeat-special/
Compilation “Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound In 1970’s Nigeria”
Burkina Faso’s President Thomas Sankara and Fela Kuti during the Panafrican Film and Television Festival (FESPACO) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 1987.
Tony Allen – Afrobeat Revolution
https://amf.didiermary.fr/tony-allen-afrobeat-revolution/
The Afrobeat Revolution started in Lagos at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1963 when Tony Allen met Fela Kuti. Allen was working as studio engineer at the time and Kuti had been hired as a disc jockey with his own jazz request programme.
The Nigerian drummer Tony Allen is credited with creating Afrobeat along with […]
Fela Kuti – Upside Down
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-upside-down/
From the LP “Upside Down” released in 1976 (CD release 1997).
Sandra, the woman who stood by Fela and also brought him in contact with the Black Panther during his transformation years in the United States, came back to visit a highly popular and successful Fela in Nigeria in 1976.
The track was written by […]
The Recording Academy Announces 2026 Special Merit Award Honorees: Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, Cher, #FelaKuti, Paul Simon, Whitney Houston & More.
https://www.grammy.com/news/special-merit-awards-2026-grammys-honorees-recording-academy
From the LP I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) released in 1979.
Fela and his political party Movement Of The People are banned from contesting Nigeria’s presidential election. Fela forms a new Afrika 70 and plays a comeback concert at the University of Ife. He also defies police opposition and opens a new Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, […]
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-international-thief-itt/
Fela Kuti – Gentleman (LP)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-gentleman-lp/
1973’s “Gentleman” is the 7th in the series of celebratory Fela 50th Anniversary reissues.
Like Fela’s other early 70’s releases, he used each side of his LPs to create a deep groove that pulls the listener in and follows with metaphoric lyrics that call out and critique the corrupt hangover of colonialism. Gentleman is the […]
Fela Kuti – Waka Waka
https://amf.didiermary.fr/waka-waka-fela-ransome-kuti/
“Waka Waka” and “Se E Tun De” on this 45T from the sixties by Fela Ransome Kuti and His Koola Lobitos.
There’s a live version on the 3-disc set Highlife: Jazz and AfroSoul (1963-1969) below. A collection of recordings made between 1963 and 1969 that provide unique insight into the beginnings of Kuti’s craft. […]
#60smusic #Compilation #FelaKuti #Highlife #Jazz #Nigeria #AfroJazz
Fela Kuti – Confusion Break Bones (C.B.B.)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-confusion-break-bones-cbb/
Confusion Break Bones is a long track (29:10) by Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 on their album “Underground System” from 1992.
“Fela releases Underground System, which will be the final album of newly recorded studio material to be issued during his lifetime. The album is inspired in part by the 1987 assassination of Fela’s friend, […]
IR-Sankara Future Dub Resurgence
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ir-sankara-future-dub-resurgence/
Based in Uganda, East Africa, the musicians IR::Sankara Future Dub Resurgence like to describe their music as “Future Dub.”
They take elements of noise, non-metric riddims, experimental electronics, dub reggae and dub poetry, and djembe and nyabinghi drumming together to create the unexpected. [...]
Fela Kuti – Mr Follow Follow
https://amf.didiermary.fr/fela-kuti-mr-follow-follow/
Fela Kuti’s Mr Follow Follow was released in 1976/77 on the Zombie album.
The song is about those who allow themselves to be led blindly by others.
“…if you dey follow them book! Na inside cupboard you go quench!… Cockroach dey! Rat dey!… Na inside darkness you go dey! If you have to follow them books, […]
Afrobeat Brazil
https://amf.didiermary.fr/afrobeat-brazil/
Afrobeat has seen a solid surge of support for years through multiple reincarnations amongst the underground scene in Brazil. All of the state’s capital cities have at least a band championing the movement, as musicians from diverse corners of the contemporary Brazilian music scene get inspired by Afrobeat and infuse elements into their own work. […]
Red Hot + Riot
https://amf.didiermary.fr/red-hot-riot-fela-kuti/
2002’s Red Hot + Riot album is available on streaming platforms in a Deluxe reissue.
“The original album had to be heavily edited to fit the time limit of a physical CD, so there was a wealth of bonus material including extended versions of many tracks; along with early mixes, accapellas, instrumentals and more. […]
