Fela Kuti: The Best of the Black President 2
Author: Jane Cornwell
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Fela Kuti (v, sax) |
Label: |
Knitting Factory Records |
Magazine Review Date: |
March/2013 |
Catalogue Number: |
2CD KFR1029-2 |
RecordDate: |
date not stated |
And so the Fela Anikulapo Kuti bandwagon keeps rolling, its wheels nicely oiled by the success of FELA!, the musical based on the life of the late great Nigerian icon and Afrobeat originator, who these days is (almost) a household name. Knitting Factory records have cannily repackaged his entire back catalogue in some 50 albums, complete with in-depth track commentaries written by Afrobeat historian Chris May and – for this re-release (re-re-re-release?) – a foreword by, um, R&B singer Akon. There's nothing here we haven't heard before, except in this particular order. If you're a Fela fan you'll probably already have access to tracks such as ‘Everything Scatter’ (recorded in 1975, and arguably the ultimate Afrobeat anthem), ‘Colonial Mentality’ and the classic ‘Sorrow, Tears and Blood’, a retelling of the story of the Soweto uprising in South Africa in 1976. Fela's ire, however, sounds as fresh as it ever did; the driving sax and percussion of his orchestra-cum-families Africa 70 and Egypt 80 still blister and bubble. With a definitive Fela documentary due for release this year, and his old home in Lagos recently transformed into a museum, the Fela juggernaut keeps rolling.

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