Tohsynetita1: Everybody has his or her own favorite in any art,skill,or style. But in music, what should matter is the lyrics that pass message. If you want to sing about love, sing about it, if na peace, sing it, if na against bad governance, sing it, but why combining yansh with government with water e.t.c calling labalaba laba that doesn't relate to the meaning of the message you are passing, I think fela does that most. His musical lyrics is always derailed, doesn't really have a point. He will just add beat, melody and instrument to spice it. And that's what most worldly musician does and people tagged it hip hop.
Don't get it wrong. Fela is a dramatist. He's theatrical. He captures the attention of his audience by fussing sultry lyrics as a method to drive key themes.
For the first time in a very long while. I found someone on nairaland worthy of accolades . What you just wrote is a quora piece. they are not worthy to lie on the streets of nairaland but am glad you did because i would have never believed there is hope for Nigerian music enthusiasts. Accolades once again sir.
Analyst7: Omo I was shocked seeing some ppl say lagbaja is better, mehn pple no sabbi legend for the game, legend wey start the game, fela is simply a genius, I have all his songs on my phone and I put it on repeat, that guy is a freestylist with nice messages, am sure even lagbaja no go like this comparison
Lagbaja go run mad if he see this comparison! I shout as I see am! The OP is a fucking **** Bleep shit! I no fit even talk!
Judolisco: that u invented something doesn't mean ur type is d best... If not we for still dey fly plane wey Wright brothers invent or old cars made in d 1800's
Haha! How can you say this and still hold a school certificate?
I put it to you that you've either not listened to Fela songs or you don't know what he's talking about
Guy stfu what kind of nonsense/rubbish comparison is this one na... See fela see trouble o, u nor jz get respect intact u b small boy..... A whole Fela Kuti Just go type greatest musicians of all time weda u nor go see Fela for top 15!!!!!!! Can u imagine the rubbish mtchewwwww
Vieybazz: Lagbaja schooled with music and understand this music very well, fela is just an activist wey also get talent to sing, which by that gave pushed him to limel. Lagbaja,! Omo baba mukomuko, that man sabi pass fela countless time
Lagbaja schooled with music? Fela had a degree in music from Trinity College, London. He was a master composer and arranger.
Very big insult to Fela kuti.... That was how one useless Idiot was busy comparing Lucky Dube to Almighty Bob Marley I just looked @ the guy like a fool...
I remember when this song was released. I immediately rushed to my keyboard. "I must play that refrain by all means possible".
Many leaders as you see dem Na different disguise dem dey oh Animal in human skin Animal e put u tie oh Animal e wear agbada Animal e put u suit u
These disguising leaders oh, na wah for dem Dem hold meeting everywhere, dem reach America
These disguising leaders oh, na wah for dem Dem hold meeting everywhere, dem reach America
Dem call the place United Nations Hear oh another animal talk Wetin united inside United Nations? Who & who unite for United Nations? No be there Thatcher & Argentina dey No be there Reagan & Libya dey Israel versus Lebanon Iran oh versus Iraq-i East West Block versus West Block East No be there dem dey oh United Nations Dis "united" United Nations One veto vote is equal to 92...or more, or more What kind sense be dat, na animal sense
Dem go hold meeting oh, Dem go start yap human beings Animal talk don start again Dash dem human rights
Dem go hold meeting oh, Dem go start yap human beings Animal talk don start again Dash dem human rights Give dem human rights
How animal go know say dem no born me as slave? How animal go know say slave trade don pass?
And, they wan dash us human rights Animal must talk to human beings Give dem human rights
I beg e oh, make you hear me well-u well I beg e oh, make you hear me very well Human rights na my property So therefore, you can't dash me my property Human rights na my property Dey wan dash us human rights
Some people say why I dey talk like dis No be talk like dis dem take to carry me go prison ee-oh" No be me dey talk, na Prime Minister Botha dey talk ee-oh No be me dey talk, na Prime Minister Botha dey talk ee-oh
Him say, this uprising will bring out the beast in us This uprising will bring out the beast in us
Him say, this uprising will bring out the beast in us This uprising will bring out the beast in us
Ke ji keke My argument
Botha na friend to Thatcher & Reagan Botha na friend to some other leaders too And together dem wan dash us human rights Animal wan dash us human rights Animal can't dash me human rights Animal can't dash us human rights
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti - Beast Of No Nation live at the Zenith in Paris in 1984.
One of the things that fascinated me about Fela's music and which constantly makes me eager to play his songs is that I hear something new and interesting every time I hear it. There's always a new line to play, always a new play on words to discover. It's so fascinating.
From the comments have seen thus far, I think Seun needs to put age restrictions on NL, Its obvious most of u don't evn knw lagbaja was among fela band n that aside how do u morons listen to music, yet most morons re saying rubbish...in case y'all don't knw fela created his own style of music Afrobeat n was accepted generally, over 20 foreign musicians have sample his beats....with regards to his lyrics mehn! I'm disappointed in these kids no wonder y'all idolised wizkid,davido, olamide etc....when u digest junk,u'd spit junk out also...u guys shld go back n listen to his lyrics wit open mind then y'all would realise he was a lyrical prophet
By the way, Orlando Julius did not create Afrobeat. The co-creators of Afrobeat were Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Tony Allen.
Orlando Julius originally played traditional Yoruba styles, then he switched to highlife in the 1960s. That's where he first found fame. This song was one of his biggest hits.
He then travelled to the US where he played funk music with people like Hugh Masekela and James Brown. That's what he was doing in the 1970s.
Fela had already created and switched to Afrobeat by the mid-1970s.
Orlando Julius only switched to Afrobeat when he came back to Nigeria c1979 and discovered that it was popular here. That's when he released songs like Dance Afrobeat. I remember when this song was released because I was pleased that someone else was also playing afrobeat. It was on heavy rotation on Lagos Television.
naptu2: All Fela's songs are great. For me, his songs can be put into two categories: the political songs and the commercial songs. I think that the political songs are the greatest, but the commercial songs are also fantastic. This is one of the best of the commercial songs.
This song was everywhere in the '70s and '80s, but a time came when it was difficult to find the vocal version. The instrumental version could easily be found. I'm going to post both versions.
You can clearly hear Fela yelling in this song. That's a technique that James Brown copied. Several bands (including swedish, norwegian and american bands) have covered the instrumental version of this song.
Jeun ko ku o! O de! Chop and quench o! O de! Wacki and die! O de!
Ole, e bami le lo o!
Fela Ransome-Kuti and his Africa 70 - Jeun Ko Ku (Chop And Quench) - (1971).
Some people mentioned the beginning of Army Arrangement and said that Fela lacked focus because it was meant to be a political song but he was singing about X-rated things. Someone else said that he might have done that because of weed. This is another example of what I wrote earlier. These people do not understand the context of the song.
Fela usually performed his songs at Shrine for many years before releasing them as albums. He immediately stopped playing a song at Shrine after releasing it. People that regularly attended Shrine knew all of Fela's songs, even the songs that were never released as albums or singles. Now the question is, what usually happened at Shrine? You'll easily understand the beginning of Army Arrangement if you know what usually happens at Shrine.
I posted this on November 7th.
naptu2: I think the Anikulapo-Kuti family need to release a comedy album. They need to release an album of Fela's yabbis. No music, just yabbis.
It'll be 18+ of course, but they need to release it.
I remember when Femi came to perform in my compound in 1989. Some of the people in the neighbourhood were trying to get him to engage in yabbis, but he begged them and told them that this was not the Shrine.
(I know the people that were heckling him. They were regular visitors to the shrine).
Then one of my neighbours heckled him in a way that got to him and Femi replied,
"Everybody dey sitdown with their girlfriend, but you dey sitdown with boyfriend".
The guy sitting beside him quietly got up and walked away as the entire audience exploded with laughter.
naptu2: OMG! I actually know the article that Fela was referring to. It was in the Punch Newspapers. I'm certain of it.
On two occasions, in 1990 and 1995, Punch's entertainment column wrote that Fela was ill. They wrote that anybody that is close to Fela should advise him to see a doctor. They said that he refused to see a doctor and preferred to take African herbs. They said that he also had issues with his skin.
The issue of "talking to mad man" arose because some journalists wrote that Fela and Bishop Okogie criticised all the previous governments in Nigeria, but their criticisms reduced after Babangida became president.
So I guess that this will be the beginning of my yabbis playlist. No music, just yabis.
naptu2: You've got to give people something different when you are on stage.
Do you know that there were people who used to go to the Shrine on a Friday night to watch Fela, yet the main thing that attracted them was not Fela's music.
What did they go to watch Fela do?
I'll supply the answer tonight (some of you already know).
naptu2: This song is also known as "Alhaji Alhaji". I'm going to post two versions of the song. The beginning of the first video is 18+ (L).
It sounds like the audio in the second video was recorded at Shrine and you know what happens at shrine . As usual a brave (or stupid) fellow yabbed Fela and Fela focussed his attention on the guy and yabbed his life away. The yabbis is also 18+ (L).
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti - Music Against Second Slavery (MASS).
Federlos Circus came to Nigeria on 3 occasions. . .or rather, I'm aware of 3 occasions that Federlos Circus came to Nigeria - 1985, 1989 and 1995. I attended their shows on all 3 occasions. I can barely remember the 1985 shows, apart from the lady on the high wire, but I remember their 1989 tour very well.
I attended every single show that they did in 1989, even the Command Performance.
They had three types of shows:
1) the regular shows (I've forgotten what the gate fee was),
2) the Command Performance (which was meant for ministers and diplomats. Prince Tony Momoh was the minister of information and culture at the time and he attended the event). The Command Performance was strictly by invitation.
3) the free show (I've forgotten what they called it). This was the last show and it was free admittance to everybody in the neighbourhood.
Femi Anikulapo-Kuti performed at both the Command Performance and at the Free Show. Some members of the audience gave him problems during the free show. These guys were regular patrons of the Afrika Shrine and they wanted Femi to do a yabis session. Femi kept trying to tell them that this is not the Shrine and that he is not Fela (he even told them to go to the Shrine if they want yabis), but they would not listen.
Then one guy (someone that I know) yabbed Femi and that was the last straw.
"Everybody siddon with their girlfriend, you na your boyfriend you come siddon with", Femi replied. The guy that was sitting beside my friend immediately got up and moved away. The audience went crazy.
NewDelhi: I'll give it to lagbaja. His music are more captivating, better beats and rhymes to put you in a dance mood. Even if you no dance you go dey shake head.
Give fela 10 mins to sing a song, he will use the first 5 mins for rythymless beats, 2 mins for lyrics wey no get meaning and the last 3 mins for another round of rhythmeless beats.
Lagbaja was way better in my opinion.
it's very obvious that don't understand anything about music for you to call Fela's beats rythmless......... If great music producers like swissbeatz, timberland, Pdiddy and even JayZ could sample his music..... Who r u to tag it rythmless....By the way, lagbaja u r talking about learned from him.... He played in his band
There are 4 absolute super legends of African music that blazed the trail for Africans on the world stage. They are Fela Anikulapo-Kuti of Nigeria, Hugh Masekela of South Africa, Manu Dibango of Cameroon and Mariam Makeba of South Africa. This post is about two of them.
South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela had not seen his good friend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti for many years, so when he came to perform in Nigeria, he took the opportunity to visit his friend & the following conversation ensued.
Hugh: I heard you got married to 27 women, where are they? I want to see them.
Fela: (Hisses) I divorced them.
Hugh: You divorced them? Why?
Fela: My girlfriends were jealous
Here is Hugh Masekela's cover of Fela's song, Lady.
naptu2: I posted this some years ago and it's appropriate to post it again.
I've often heard people say that there was beef between Fela and Manu Dibango, but I've never seen evidence of it. Fela spoke highly of Manu Dibango when he was alive and Dibango also spoke highly of Fela.
(The only concrete thing that I've seen that points to any problem was when Seun Kuti was asked in the 2010s if he could work with Manu Dibango and he said that he respected Dibango but he was his father's rival, so he wouldn't work with him).
Anyway, Dibango was asked about Fela in this video and he said that he was good friends with Fela. He said that the president of the Ivory Coast asked him to manage an Ivorian TV station and that he left the US and went to live in Abidjan for 2 years. He said it was just an hour and a half from Abidjan to Lagos by air and he flew to Lagos every weekend to spend time with Fela at the Shrine.
He said that Fela was also a very good composer and if you listened to tracks like Lady you'd realise how good Fela was at composing music.
He said that the difference between him and Fela was that Fela was a politician and he didn't like to get involved in politics because politics is a messy business.
He said that he performed with Fela at concerts in Italy, Holland and around the world.
NewDelhi: I'll give it to lagbaja. His music are more captivating, better beats and rhymes to put you in a dance mood. Even if you no dance you go dey shake head.
Give fela 10 mins to sing a song, he will use the first 5 mins for rythymless beats, 2 mins for lyrics wey no get meaning and the last 3 mins for another round of rhythmeless beats.
Lagbaja was way better in my opinion.
I've never seen a more stupid person in my life, you sound so childish and extremely foolish with your comprehension of Fela's music. I guess you're writing this silly post with your free 20mb daily from MTN. Why won't you spill sh!t from your mouth. Useless baboon.
Don't ever compare the two abeg. Wetin Fela sing? Fela was just a weed smoking noise maker. No lyrics, no message, just useless and unnecessary repetition of meaningless words. Lagbaja any day anytime.
You can actually like lagbaja without insulting Fela. Because your small lizard Brain cannot comprehend his kind of lyrics and what he sings doesn't make it useless. Don't worry boy, I was once like you but when you grow up a little.. You'd understand life better and learn to celebrate a genius and not a mediocre. Useless baboon
As in I have a file that contains all his album and music. It's almost 4 gig. The guy was an activist no doubt but some of his music no just follow. He go just dey talk nonsense. Reminds me of one of his songs. He wanted to bash government as usual. Before he started he started talking about yansh. Said something like "yansh na wonderful material property, woman dey use am shìt ,fvck, piss. Yansh is very wonderful.".
Abeg weytin concern yansh with the matter on ground. He go con use 80% time for beats, use 20% for lyrics.
In just a few days time it will be exactly 37 years since this happened.
I woke up and there was another coup. We did what we always do on coup mornings, we scanned all the stations. NTA2 Channel 5 was off the air, but NTA Channel 10 was showing this.
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti - Pansa Pansa (live in Berlin in 1978).
naptu2: This is from a funny interview that Fela had with May Ellen Ezekiel (MEE). It's a long time ago but I can still remember the funny part of the interview. I can't remember it word for word so I'll paraphrase.
Why are people surprised that students are joining campus cults? What do you expect them to do when you put them in a faculty. What did you call it again? fa-cult-y. Ehen!
Technology came from Africa. Do you know the meaning of technology in Yoruba? Te ki ina lo ji.
This is a beautiful short song from the 1969 Los Angeles sessions.
Viva Africa
This is brother Fela Ransome Kuti
This is one time I would like to say a few things Men are born Kings are made Treaties are signed Wars are fought Every country has its own problems So has Nigeria so has Africa Let us bind our wounds and live together in peace Nigeria, one nation indivisible Long live Nigeria Viva Africa
The history of mankind Is full of obvious turning points and significant events Though tongue and tribe my differ We are all Nigerians We are all Africans War is not the answer It has never been the answer And it will never be the answer fighting amongst each other Let's live together in peace Nigeria one Nation Indivisible Long live Nigeria Viva Africa
Let's eat together like we used to eat Let's plan together like we used to plan Sing together like we used to sing Dance together like we used to dance United we stand, divided we fall You know what I mean I hope you do Let us bind our wounds and live together in peace Nigeria one nation indivisible Long live Nigeria Viva Africa
Brothers and Sisters in Africa Never should we learn to wage war against each other Let Nigeria be a lesson to all We have more to learn towards building then destroying Our people can't afford any more sufferings Let's join hands Africa We have nothing to lose But a lot to gain War is not the answer War has never been the answer And it will never be the answer Fighting amongst each other One nation indivisible Long live Nigeria Viva Africa
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