10 Failing Answers To Common Fela Questions: Do You Know Which Ones?
Fela Ransome-Kuti
Fela, a musician and political activist was also a Pan-Africanist. He was a strong advocate for African culture, and was influenced Black Power. He travelled to Ghana where he found new musical influences and a new direction for his music.
He wrote songs that were designed to be political slams against the Nigerian government as well as a global order that systematically exploited Africa. His music was radically revolutionary.
Fela Ransome Kuti was born Abeokuta
Fela ransome-Kuti was known in the 1970s and 1980s for his agitated political views and brutal music. Many of his songs were direct slams against the Nigerian government, particularly the dictatorships of the military that ruled the country in those years. He also criticized fellow Africans for supporting dictatorships. Fela's rebellion against oppressive governments cost him dearly. He was beaten, detained and even jailed several times. He once referred to himself as an "prisoner of the Kalakuta Republic" and founded his own political movement called the Movement for the Advancement of the People (MOP).
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was Fela's mom. She was a feminist leader and women's rights activist, known throughout the world. She was a member of the Abeokuta Women's Union and worked as an educator. She also assisted in organizing the first preschool classes in Abeokuta. She was a suffragist, and was active in the Nigerian Independence Movement. She was a close kin of the writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka.
Ransome-Kuti favored Pan-Africanism, and was a strong socialist. She advocated the preservation of traditional African practices and religions and was a strong opponent of European cultural imperialism. Ransome-Kuti was influenced by Malcolm X, Eldridge Clever and the Black Power Movement. She was also a member of the African Renaissance movement.
The music of Fela was able, despite his opposition to the oppressive Nigerian Government and Western culture, to earn a worldwide following. His music incorporated elements of Afrobeat rock, rock, and jazz and was heavily influenced by the beats of American jazz clubs. He was also a fervent anti-racist.
Fela's rebellion in Nigeria against the government led to many arrests and beatings. However, it did not deter him from traveling the United States and Europe. In 1984, he was again attacked by the military and detained on suspicions of smuggling currencies. The incident led international human rights groups to intervene, and the government backed down. Nevertheless, Kuti continued to record and perform until his death in 1997. He was buried in the Kalakuta Cemetery, Abeokuta. The Fela Museum is located in the city.
He was a musician
A passionate Pan-Africanist, Fela was determined to use his music as a method of social protest. Utilizing his funk-infused Afrobeat style, he decried the Nigerian government and inspired activists around the world. Fela was born in 1938 in Abeokuta, Nigeria. He was the son Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, an anticolonialist and leader in the Nigerian women's movement. His mother as well as his grandparents was a physician who was an anti-colonialist. Fela's life work was to fight for the rights and liberties of the oppressed.
Fela began his career as a musician in the year 1958 after dropping out of medical school in order to pursue his passion for music. He started out playing highlife, a popular music genre that blends traditional African rhythms with Western instruments and jazz. He started his first band in London and was able to refine his skills. When he returned to Nigeria, he created Afrobeat that combines agit-prop lyrics with danceable beats. The new style was popular in Nigeria and across the continent, becoming one of the most influential forms of African music.
In the 1970s, Fela's political activism put him in direct conflict with Nigerian military regimes. The regime was wary of his music's ability to motivate people to take on their oppressors and challenge the status established order. Fela was adamant, despite numerous attempts to silence his music continued to make ferocious and danceable music until the end of life. He died from complications arising from AIDS in 1997.
When Fela was alive, crowds of people were always waiting to catch him perform at his nightclub in Lagos known as Afrika Shrine. He also built the Kalakuta republic which was his recording studio and club. The commune also was a venue for political speeches. Fela critiqued the Nigerian government as well as world leaders like Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and P.W. Botha, South African the South African Prime Minister. Botha.
His legacy continues to live in spite of his death due complications related to AIDS. His trailblazing Afrobeat style continues to influence the popular artists like Beyonce, Wyclef Jean, and Jay Z, who have mentioned him as an influencer. He was an enigmatic man who loved music and fun, as well as women. But his most lasting legacy is his tireless efforts to fight for the marginalized.
He was a Pan-Africanist
The renowned Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and political activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was a Pan-Africanist, bringing his unique musical style to the cause of the people. A master at blending elements from African culture with American funk and jazz, he also used his music to criticize the oppressive Nigerian government. He continued to speak out and fight for his beliefs, despite being often detained and beaten.
Fela was raised in the Ransome-Kuti clan, which included anti-colonialists and artists. His mother, Funmilayo ransome-Kuti, was a feminist educator and his father, Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, helped form a teachers union. He grew singing and listening to the traditional melodies and the rhythms of highlife, an amalgamation of jazz standards, soul songs, and Ghanaian hymns. This music influenced the worldview of Fela who was determined to bring Africa to the world and the world to Africa.
In 1977, Fela recorded Zombie. The song contrasts police officers to a mindless mass of people who would obey orders and savagely attack people. The song irritated military authorities, who surrounded his home and took over his compound. They beat everyone including Fela’s children and women. His mother was removed from a window and passed away the following year of injuries she sustained in the assault.
The war fueled Fela's anti-government activism. He established a commune known as the Kalakuta Republic. It also was a studio used for recording. He also formed a party and separated from the Nigerian government, and his songs began to focus more on social issues. In 1979, he took his mother's body to the headquarters of the junta's ruling party in Lagos and was beaten.
Fela was an ardent warrior and never bowed to the status of the game. He knew the injustice of fighting an inefficient and unjust power, but he never gave up. He was the embodiment of a spirit that was indefatigable and, in that way, it was truly heroic. He was a man who defied every challenge and, by doing so, changed the course of the history of mankind. His legacy lives on to this day.
He passed away in 1997.
The death of Fela has been a crushing loss to his fans around the world. He was 58 when he passed away, and his funeral was attended by millions of people. His family said that he had died of heart failure as a result of AIDS.
Fela played a key part in the creation and development of Afrobeat music which fuses traditional Yoruba rhythms, jazz and American funk. His political activism led to arrests and beatings by Nigerian police however he refused to be silenced. He encouraged others to resist the corrupt regime of the Nigerian military regime and proclaimed Africanism. Fela was an influential figure in the Black Power movement in the United States, which inspired him to fight for Africa.
In his later years, Fela suffered from skin lesion and a dramatic loss of weight. These symptoms were an obvious indication that he was suffering from AIDS. He was an AIDS denier and he refused treatment, but ultimately succumbed to the disease. Fela Kuti will be remembered for generations to come.
Kuti's music makes a powerful political statement that is a challenge to the status quo. He was a revolutionary who wanted to change the way that Africans were treated. He used his music as a tool for social protest and was a fighter against colonialism. His music played a major role in changing the lives of many Africans and he will be remembered for his contributions.
Through his entire career, Fela worked with various producers to create his distinct sound. Some of these producers included EMI producer Jeff Jarratt and British dub master Dennis Bovell. fela law firm was a blend of traditional African beats and American funk. This led to him having an international audience. He was a polarizing figure in the music industry and often criticized Western culture.
Fela was well-known for his controversial music and life style. He was a pot smoker and had numerous affairs with women. Despite his outrageous life, he was a staunch activist and struggled for the rights of the poor in Nigeria. His music influenced the lives of a lot of Africans and urged them to embrace their own culture.