Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Fela Anikulapo Kuti was the Afrobeat music maestro whose life and time provide the lens through which we can outline the postcolonial trajectory of the Nigerian state as well as the dynamics of most other African states. Through the Afrobeat music, Fela did not only challenge consecutive governments in Nigeria, but his rebellious Afrobeat lyrics facilitate a philosophical subtext that enriches the more intellectual Afrocentric discourses. Afrobeat and the philosophy of blackism that Fela enunciated place him right beside Malcolm X, Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey, and all the others who champion a black and African mode of being in the world. This book traces the emergence of Fela on the music scene, the cultural and political backgrounds that made Afrobeat possible, and the philosophical elements that not only contributed to the formation of Fela's blackism, but what constitutes Fela's philosophical sensibility too.

This collection is one of two publications in the Fela Project.

A bold and energetic close-up on one of Africa's most popular and controversial stars.

Musician, political critic, and hedonist, international superstar Fela Anikulapo-Kuti created a sensation throughout his career. In his own country of Nigeria he was simultaneously adulated and loathed, often by the same people at the same time. His outspoken political views and advocacy of marijuana smoking and sexual promiscuity offended many, even as his musical brilliance enthralled them. In his creation of afrobeat, he melded African traditions with African American and Afro-Caribbean influences to revolutionize world music. Although harassed, beaten, and jailed by Nigerian authorities, he continued his outspoken and derisive criticism of political corruption at home and economic exploitation from abroad. A volatile mixture of personal characteristics -- charisma, musical talent, maverick lifestyle, populist ideology, and persistence in the face of persecution -- made him a legend throughout Africa and the world. Celebrated during the 1970s as a musical innovator and spokesman for the continent's oppressed masses, he enjoyed worldwide celebrity during the 1980s and was recognized in the 1990s as a major pioneer and elder statesman of African music. By the time of his death in 1997 from AIDS-related complications, Fela had become something of a Nigerian institution. In Africa, the idea of transnational alliance, once thought to be outmoded, has gained new currency. In African America, during a period of increasing social conservatism and ethnic polarization, Africa has re-emerged as a symbol of cultural affirmation. At such an historical moment, Fela's music offers a perspective on race, class, and nation on both sides of the Atlantic. As Professor Veal demonstrates, over three decades Fela synthesized a unique musical language while also clearing -- if only temporarily -- a space for popular political dissent and a type of counter-cultural expression rarely seen in West Africa. In the midst of political turmoil in Africa, as well as renewal of pro-African cultural nationalism throughout the diaspora, Fela's political music functions as a post-colonial art form that uses cross-cultural exchange to voice a unique and powerful African essentialism.

Published to accompany an exhibition of the same title held at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 10 July - 28 September 2003, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, 17 April - 4 July 2004 and the Barbican Art Galleries, London, 9 September - 24 October 2004.

Political campaigning affects numerous realms under the communication umbrella with each channel seeking to influence as many individuals as possible. In higher education, there is a growing scholarly interest in communication issues and subjects, especially on the role of music, in the political arena. Music and Messaging in the African Political Arena provides innovative insights into providing music and songs as an integral part of sending political messages to a broader spectrum of audiences, especially during political campaigns. The content within this publication covers such topics as framing theory, national identity, and ethnic politics, and is designed for politicians, campaign managers, political communication scholars, researchers, and students.

Fela Anikulapo-Kutiís universal ideas were fresh as dawn. His compositions were sophisticated, a highly 'musical construction'. From 1987, Fela was the only band in the world with two bass guitars in glissade, a form where the music slides between two notes in which all intermediate notes are played. Fela's behaviour was not extreme, when you eliminate his excesses, his socio-political musings indicate a complete intellectual capacity. He chewed up all books by great Africanists and his thoughts went deeper with his analytical mind. His music was opened to the power of the written word and it was the dawn of awareness for Fela's musical orientation, the beginning of his "Felasophy"; a total reawakening into the inhumanity against humanity. He felt for Africa and their wretched lives. Every successive government in Nigeria kicked Fela and through multiple detentions they almost broke his spirit, however during these times he wrote, composed and arranged the best music of his career. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: The Primary Man Of An African Personality is a dramatic presentation of "Felasophy". It chronicles the music, politics, life and courage of the legendary Afro-beat activist who died on August 2, 1997.

This work is an analysis of the music and politics of Fela Anikulapo-kuti. It traces Fela's development through several stages of political consciousness, awareness and artistic maturity, his evolution from Fela Ransome-Kuti to Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and from Koola Lobito's to Nigeria 70 to Africa 70 and ultimately Egypt 80. He had spent a lifetime producing music that spoke to the existence of the masses in Africa. He had also spent a tremendous amount of time in court, in prison, in jail and receiving beatings from the army and police. Through it all, he remained true to his vision and his music.