He had lampooned the army that threw him into jail, the army that burned down his house and killed his mother. He had championed Africa's powerless, knocking down the mighty, including President Olusegun Obasanjo, when he was the country's military ruler a generation ago. And Fela had transformed all of that into a magical fusion of music called Afrobeat and had become Africa's most famous musician.
He was known as Fela Ransome-Kuti until about 1978, when he renamed himself Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the middle name meaning 'he who carries death in his pouch'. He was a human rights revolutionary who started his own political party, Movement Of The People, to protest the kleptocracy in Nigeria.
His influence on funk and African music is unsurpassed and has put his name to many albums, the total number thought to be 77. It wasn’t just what Fela said about a country broken by corruption and oppression. It was how his music said it.
His son Seun in an
interview in 2000 said...
''We've not had democracy in a long time, Instead of legislators we have legislooters. Instead of legislating, they are legi-stealing.''
"Afrobeat is still the only music in Nigeria where you can say what you feel, tell the government what you think, Afrobeat is a weapon."
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