Jazzbones Creative

Remembering the great Fela Kuti who was born on this day in 1938. He was regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, which fused American blues, jazz, and funk with traditional Yoruba music. Fela’s musical life spanned through a period of almost four decades, from the 1960s through to the 1990s. Following his 1969 tour of the United States, where he was influenced by the politics of Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, Kuti’s music became increasingly politicized. Initially he sang songs that were generally not political, in his native Yoruba tongue and in English. But he soon started to sing anti-establishment songs, which very quickly brought him in collision with both imperialism and their local agents in power at home. He soon became an avowed enemy of the ruling military Junta of General Obasanjo and their collaborators like MKO Abiola. Notwithstanding threats and intimidation, he continued his criticisms of the military dictatorship and its imperialist friends - such as the owners of multinationals companies like Shell, ITT, Mobil, etc. In line with his Pan-Africanist identity, he later changed his surname, Ransome-Kuti, a hybrid of a slave name and an African name to Anikulapo-Kuti, which is completely African. “Anikulapo” literally means “he that has pocketed death”. Here, he is performing “Authority Stealing” with his band, live in Lagos.