By Bankole Taiwo James
Music has become an integral part of people’s lives – in Nigeria and Africa at large. It follows us through our entire day from early in the morning till late at night and through all the changes of our life, from the very moment we came into this world until after we have left.
African Traditional music, in many ways, represents a historic relationship and continuity with the past and gives the opportunity of learning in order that the present may be better understood, exactly what history teaches us.
Our style of traditional music is that type of music that is created entirely from traditional elements such as Apala, Sakara, Waka, Fuji and Afrobeat music. But our major focus here is the Afrobeat Nigeria born music.
Afrobeat – a dance-protest music created by Fela – is described as a soundtrack of resistance that inspired Nigerians’ hope during the dark days of military dictatorship.
Afrobeat was championed by Fela Kuti, whose musical ideas and political ideals formed the core of Afrobeat’s aesthetic as it appeared in the 1960s.
The history of Afrobeat music began in the 1960s when musicians from Ghana combined West African regional music with Western jazz and calypso.
The resulting new sound became known as highlife, which continued to fold additional Western influences into its heady mix over the next few decades and by 1970s, the music evolved into a counterculture movement—libertine and populist.
Fela Kuti, in his songs, adopted a stance opposed to the contemporary African political climate of the 1960s, broaching topics such as diverse and military corruption and national sovereignty, which resonated across much of the continent.
With the new appellation “AFROBEAT”, Fela hoped to achieve three (3) things with his new music style.
- First, he would resolve the sense of ambiguous musical identity implicit in “highlife-jazz.”
- Secondly, through Afro-Beat, Fela aspired to create a “new trend worthy of emulation,” he wants to create a musical identity that would continue to alienate audiences.
- Thirdly, by calling his music “Afro-Beat,” a contraction of “African” and “Beat,” Fela was expressing his commitment to a Pan-Africanist musical discourse. His music inculcates a sense of cultural pride, not just to Nigerians, but to the generality of Africans, and “the black race.”.
This new genre of music “AFROBEAT” was carried forward even after the death of Fela in 1997 by a mix of African artists, like Kuti’s former drummer, Tony Allen who expanded on the Afrobeat sound by mixing in elements of hip-hop, dub, and electronica to form a new subgenre called Afrofunk – Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti.
Also in the West, artist like Brian Eno and David Byrne from The Talking Heads drew on Afrobeat for their groundbreaking album Remain in Light (1980).
Fela’s Afrobeat style of music preached cultural pride and Afrocentrism.
LIFE HISTORY OF FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI
Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti popularly called “ABAMI EDA” was born on 15 October 1938 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, north of Lagos and died on 2 August 1997.
Kuti was the son of a Nigerian women’s rights activist and political activist, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. He is the pioneer of Afrobeat, an African style of music that combines traditional Yoruba elements and vocal styles with American funk and jazz.
As a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader with a larger-than-life personality, Kuti combined the raw guitars and jazzy undercurrents of traditional highlife with tight horn arrangements, electrifying polyrhythms, and politically charged lyrical content for the creation of Afrobeat.
At his early age, Fela Kuti’s parents had no interest in his music career, rather, they hoped he would become a doctor.
He was sent to London in 1958 for what they assumed would be a medical education tour; instead, Fela registered at Trinity College’s school of music.
Fela Ransome-Kuti changed the first part of his double-barreled surname Ransome to Anikulapo in the mid-1970s. The renaming was instructive.
Anikulapo means ‘I have death in my pocket’, which is to say, as he often did, ‘I will be the master of my own destiny and will decide when it is time for death to take me’.
When he died in August of 1997 at the age of 58, Fela appeared to fulfill the prophecy implicit in that earlier name change; and the manner of his death was as dramatic and unruly as the manner of his living.
While in college, Fela Kuti formed his first band, ‘Koola Lobitos,’ in London. After moving back to Nigeria in 1963, he re-formed the band as a professional band, trained as a radio producer, and worked with trumpeter Victor Olaiya.
In 1967, Kuti travelled to Ghana on a maverick tour looking for a new musical direction. While still in Ghana, he met a promoter called ‘Duke’, a Ghanaian who had relocated to California, and together they began to plan a tour to the USA.
The tour took place in 1969 and turned out to be a frustrating sequence of triumphs and disasters. It was halted when it was discovered that the promoter had not obtained the proper work permits for all the group’s members.
During his trip to USA, he was able to record some of his latest compositions with a new group of musicians who interpreted his musical vision with a greater level of commitment and ability.
He called this group Nigeria 70. On getting back to Nigeria, he renamed the group “Africa 70”. later on, Fela Kuti with his band changes their focus on political issues.
In 1974, Kuti created a sovereign commune, the ‘Kalakuta Republic.’
In 1977, he, along with ‘Afrika ’70’, released ‘Zombie’. This album caused swift and terrible backlash from the then government, that reportedly sent 1000 soldiers to attack the ‘Kalakuta Republic,’ destroyed his property, injured Kuti, and threw his elderly mother from a window.
His mother later succumbed to her injuries, prompting Kuti to deliver her coffin to a Nigerian general’s residence and composing two more songs criticizing the government.
In 1979, he established his own political party called ‘Movement of the People’ (MOP) and announced that he would be standing for President in the forthcoming Nigerian elections on the ticket of his own party.
The party was banned from contesting Nigeria’s presidential election. He then created a new band named ‘Egypt ’80,’ claiming Egyptian achievements for Africa.
In 1984, he was arrested for currency smuggling and jailed for 20 months. He was released in 1986 after a successful coup that ousted former Head of State, Buhari.
His music career continued through the 1980s, performing in a notable Amnesty International concert in New Jersey and releasing ‘Beasts of No Nation’ just before the abolition of apartheid in South Africa.
During the early 1990s, Kuti health began to deteriorate. 1992, he releases Underground System, which will be the final album of the newly recorded studio.
While in 1993, he was again arrested for murder after someone was killed in a fight at his Shrine. Between 1993 and 1994, Fela’s staged campaign for the right to smoke weed and does trigger police to harass him.
Fela died on 2 August 1997. It announced that he was suffering from AIDS, before his death. Over a million people gather to pay their final respects.
The funeral developed into a festival of joy and lasted for three days.
His Major Works include the album ‘Zombie’ (1977), The singles ‘Coffin for Head of State’ and ‘Unknown Soldier’ were written in response to his mother’s death at the hands of the military.
The iconic single ‘I.T.T. (International Thief Thief).’ The 1989 album ‘Beasts of No Nation’ was a response to remarks by the erstwhile South African president and has now become a pan-African political landmark.
Kuti would be remembered as an iconic personality who speaks his opinions on matters and issues that affected the growth and development of the nation through his music.
With his Afrobeat style of music, there has been a revival of his influence in music and the popular culture of Africa.
