One of the most important musical and political figures to emerge in post-independence Nigeria, Fela Kuti was the legendary rebel and agent provocateur that pioneered Afrobeat, an invigorating hybrid of dirty funk and traditional African rhythms.
No denial that Fela was a complex man that was equal parts shaman, showman and trickster, whose perpetual criticism of Nigeria’s governmental and religious figures made him a constant target.
Later called Baba 70, Fela was one of a handful of exceptional individuals that forever changed our musical landscape.
This is a guide to five of his voluminous recorded songs and the deep meanings of each of them.
In view of Felabration, an annual music festival conceived in 1998 by Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti in memory and celebration of her father Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and human rights activist known for pioneering the afrobeat genre of music, take a look at five of Fela’s songs and their contributions to the new look of the musical landscape.
1. “Zombie”
Zombie was released in 1976 by Coconut Records and was immediately a success among the people. The song starts off strong with a rousing horn fanfare that holds the clue to the important message Fela delivers: the zombie he refers to, who does whatever he is told unthinkingly, is a soldier of the Nigerian Army.
Fela was a provocateur, and his criticism of the Nigerian government made him a constant target. His revolutionary way of being was reflected in many aspects of his life. Fela had created a commune in his house, treated like an independent state, called the Kalakuta Republic.
In Zombie, he narrates the military in motion comparing their orientation to the Zombie, without minds of their own (unfree). The soldiers are portrayed as brainless figures, brainwashed to do whatever higher authorities want.
“Zombie no go think, unless you tell them to think.
In the song, he said “Zombie no go think, unless you tell them to think”
This bold condemnation of the military institution led to a raid in Kalakuta, and finally to his mother’s death. One thousand members of the Nigerian army attacked and burnt down his house after the release of the record. Fela was badly beaten, his records and instruments destroyed; tragically, his mother was taken and thrown from the second floor leading to fatal injuries.
2. “Suffering and Smiling”
Released in 1977, Fela describes the life of the average Nigerian who is constantly suffering, but smiling through the pain, believing in the rewards that await them in the afterlife due to the teachings of religious leaders, who themselves live the most lavish lives, enjoying the so-called earthly pleasures. He warns people to open their eyes to this injustice and stop being blind followers of religion.
Things haven’t changed much today, as people still blindly follow religion (and religious leaders), without necessarily understanding its true meaning.
3. “Suffer Head” must go
“Suffer Head” is a masterpiece of the 1980s, released at a time when the living conditions of the poor masses were getting worse. He was able to put across graphically, the terrible living conditions of the working masses. Describing, among others, how “ten people sleep inside one small room” in the slums; how the transportation system was so bad that “my people are packed inside buses like sardines”; how water, food and light (electricity) were both lacking or grossly inadequate. He then linked these to the cynical nomenclature of underdeveloped nations.
He further criticised the essence of the United Nations’ cynical programmes of “food-house-health etc., for all by the year 2000”. He tagged them programme of deceit. In conclusion, Fela made a revolutionary appeal that “suffer head must go! And J’eba head must come” (eba is a popular meal in Nigeria).
4. “Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense”
This was released in 1980, it highlights the fact that the white man seems to be living our lives for us, while they make their own decisions based on their culture and tradition. The white man, instead of condemning the bad leadership that goes on here, overlooks them while doing the exact opposite in their own countries.
He condemns the so-called democracy and begs Africans to open their eyes and realize that they are being misled and stolen from.
Today, instead of drawing away from the chains of colonialism, we still rely on foreign countries to help us make some of our major decisions and try to imitate every aspect of their lives, forgetting our cultures and traditions in the process.
5. “Army Arrangement”
Released in 1985, this piece of music revealed the mismanagement of the economy by the past regimes in Nigeria, both military and civilian governments alike.
It exposed their methods of thievery, among others. It similarly showed that nothing good could come out of the then civilian rule, which he claimed correctly was to come about with the participation of the “same old politicians who ruled (ruined) and spoiled Nigeria before.”
The album was a revelation of the inherent class links between the military Generals and the civilian wing (so-called ‘political class’) of the ruling capitalist class.
