FELA
Name: Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti
Born: October 15, 1938 Abeokuta, Nigeria
Died: August 2, 1997
Fela Anikulapo Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, October 15,
1938 - August 2, 1997), or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist
musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and
political maverick.
He was ranked at number 46 in a list of the top 100 most influential musicians
compiled by HMV.
Fela was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria[2] to a middle-class family. His
mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a feminist active in the anti-colonial
movement and his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a Protestant
minister and school Principal, was the first president of the Nigerian Union of
Teachers. His brothers, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, were
both well known in Nigeria.
Fela went to London in 1958 with the intention of studying medicine but decided
to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed
the band Koola Lobitos, playing a style of music that he would later call
Afrobeat. The style was a fusion of American Jazz and Funk with West African
Highlife. In 1961, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor, with
whom he would have three children (Femi, Yeni and Sola). In 1963, Fela moved
back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and trained as a radio producer for the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1969, Fela took the band to the United
States. While there, Fela discovered the black power movement through Sandra
Smith(now Isidore) -- a partisan of the Black Panther Party--which would heavily
influence his music and political views and renamed the band "Nigeria 70". Soon,
the Immigration and Naturalization Service were tipped off by a promoter that
Fela and his band were in the US without work permits. The band then performed a
quick recording session in Los Angeles, which would later be released as "The '69
Los Angeles Sessions".
Fela and his band, renamed "Africa '70" returned to Nigeria. He then formed the
Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio and a home for many connected
to the band which he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. Fela
set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, named the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika
Shrine, where he performed regularly. Fela also changed his middle name to "Anikulapo"
(meaning "he who carries death in his pouch")[3], stating that his original
middle name of Ransome was a slave name. The recordings continued, and the music
became more politically motivated. Fela's music became very popular among the
Nigerian public and Africans in general. In fact, he made the decision to sing
in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over
Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As
popular as Fela's music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was also very
unpopular with the ruling government, and raids on the Kalakuta Republic were
frequent. In 1974 the police arrived with a search warrant and a cannabis joint,
which they had intended to plant on Fela. He became wise to this and swallowed
the joint. In response, the police took him into custody and waited to examine
his feces. Fela enlisted the help of his prison mates and gave the police
someone else's feces, and Fela was freed. He then recounted this tale in his
release Expensive Shit.
In 1977 Fela and the Afrika 70 released the hit album Zombie, a scathing attack
on Nigerian soldiers using the "zombie" metaphor to describe the methods of the
Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the
government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic, during
which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and
his elderly mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The
Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela's studio, instruments, and master tapes
were destroyed. Fela claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for
the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela's response
to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to the main army barrack in
Lagos and write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier,"
referencing the official inquiry which claimed the commune had been destroyed by
an unknown soldier.
Fela and his band then took residence in Crossroads Hotel as the Shrine had been
destroyed along with his commune. In 1978 Fela married twenty seven women, many
of whom were his dancers and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on
the Kalakuta Republic. Later, he was to adopt a rotation system of keeping only
twelve simultaneous wives.[4] The year was also marked by two notorious concerts,
the first in Accra in which riots broke out during the song "Zombie" which led
to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at the Berlin Jazz
Festival after which most of Fela's musicians deserted him, due to rumors that
Fela was planning to use the entirety of the proceeds to fund his presidential
campaign.
Despite the massive setbacks, Fela was determined to come back. He formed his
own political party, which he called "Movement of the People". In 1979 he put
himself forward for President in Nigeria's first elections for more than a
decade but his candidature was refused. At this time, Fela created a new band
called "Egypt 80" and continued to record albums and tour the country. He
further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT vice-president
Moshood Abiola and then General Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot-selling 25-minute
political screed entitled "International Thief Thief".
In 1984 he was again attacked by the Military government, who jailed him on a
dubious charge of currency smuggling. His case was taken up by several human-rights
groups, and after twenty months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim
Babangida. On his release he divorced his twelve remaining wives, telling "Marriage
brings jealousy and selfishness".[5] Once again, Fela continued to release
albums with Egypt 80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and
Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in
Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International "Conspiracy of
Hope" concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and The Neville
Brothers.
His album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums
altogether. The battle against military corruption in Nigeria was taking its
toll, especially during the rise of dictator Sani Abacha. Rumors were also
spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing
treatment. On August 3, 1997 Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS
activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his
younger brother's death a day earlier from Kaposi's sarcoma brought on by AIDS.
(Their younger brother, Beko, was in jail at this time at the hand of Abacha for
political activity). More than a million people attended Fela's funeral at the
site of the old Shrine compound.
Name: Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti
Born: October 15, 1938 Abeokuta, Nigeria
Died: August 2, 1997
Fela Anikulapo Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, October 15,
1938 - August 2, 1997), or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist
musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and
political maverick.
He was ranked at number 46 in a list of the top 100 most influential musicians
compiled by HMV.
Fela was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria[2] to a middle-class family. His
mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a feminist active in the anti-colonial
movement and his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a Protestant
minister and school Principal, was the first president of the Nigerian Union of
Teachers. His brothers, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, were
both well known in Nigeria.
Fela went to London in 1958 with the intention of studying medicine but decided
to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed
the band Koola Lobitos, playing a style of music that he would later call
Afrobeat. The style was a fusion of American Jazz and Funk with West African
Highlife. In 1961, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor, with
whom he would have three children (Femi, Yeni and Sola). In 1963, Fela moved
back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and trained as a radio producer for the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1969, Fela took the band to the United
States. While there, Fela discovered the black power movement through Sandra
Smith(now Isidore) -- a partisan of the Black Panther Party--which would heavily
influence his music and political views and renamed the band "Nigeria 70". Soon,
the Immigration and Naturalization Service were tipped off by a promoter that
Fela and his band were in the US without work permits. The band then performed a
quick recording session in Los Angeles, which would later be released as "The '69
Los Angeles Sessions".
Fela and his band, renamed "Africa '70" returned to Nigeria. He then formed the
Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio and a home for many connected
to the band which he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. Fela
set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, named the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika
Shrine, where he performed regularly. Fela also changed his middle name to "Anikulapo"
(meaning "he who carries death in his pouch")[3], stating that his original
middle name of Ransome was a slave name. The recordings continued, and the music
became more politically motivated. Fela's music became very popular among the
Nigerian public and Africans in general. In fact, he made the decision to sing
in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over
Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As
popular as Fela's music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was also very
unpopular with the ruling government, and raids on the Kalakuta Republic were
frequent. In 1974 the police arrived with a search warrant and a cannabis joint,
which they had intended to plant on Fela. He became wise to this and swallowed
the joint. In response, the police took him into custody and waited to examine
his feces. Fela enlisted the help of his prison mates and gave the police
someone else's feces, and Fela was freed. He then recounted this tale in his
release Expensive Shit.
In 1977 Fela and the Afrika 70 released the hit album Zombie, a scathing attack
on Nigerian soldiers using the "zombie" metaphor to describe the methods of the
Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the
government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic, during
which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and
his elderly mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The
Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela's studio, instruments, and master tapes
were destroyed. Fela claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for
the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela's response
to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to the main army barrack in
Lagos and write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier,"
referencing the official inquiry which claimed the commune had been destroyed by
an unknown soldier.
Fela and his band then took residence in Crossroads Hotel as the Shrine had been
destroyed along with his commune. In 1978 Fela married twenty seven women, many
of whom were his dancers and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on
the Kalakuta Republic. Later, he was to adopt a rotation system of keeping only
twelve simultaneous wives.[4] The year was also marked by two notorious concerts,
the first in Accra in which riots broke out during the song "Zombie" which led
to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at the Berlin Jazz
Festival after which most of Fela's musicians deserted him, due to rumors that
Fela was planning to use the entirety of the proceeds to fund his presidential
campaign.
Despite the massive setbacks, Fela was determined to come back. He formed his
own political party, which he called "Movement of the People". In 1979 he put
himself forward for President in Nigeria's first elections for more than a
decade but his candidature was refused. At this time, Fela created a new band
called "Egypt 80" and continued to record albums and tour the country. He
further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT vice-president
Moshood Abiola and then General Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot-selling 25-minute
political screed entitled "International Thief Thief".
In 1984 he was again attacked by the Military government, who jailed him on a
dubious charge of currency smuggling. His case was taken up by several human-rights
groups, and after twenty months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim
Babangida. On his release he divorced his twelve remaining wives, telling "Marriage
brings jealousy and selfishness".[5] Once again, Fela continued to release
albums with Egypt 80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and
Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in
Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International "Conspiracy of
Hope" concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and The Neville
Brothers.
His album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums
altogether. The battle against military corruption in Nigeria was taking its
toll, especially during the rise of dictator Sani Abacha. Rumors were also
spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing
treatment. On August 3, 1997 Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS
activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his
younger brother's death a day earlier from Kaposi's sarcoma brought on by AIDS.
(Their younger brother, Beko, was in jail at this time at the hand of Abacha for
political activity). More than a million people attended Fela's funeral at the
site of the old Shrine compound.