As the 2015 Felabration wraps up today, let’s take you through the life and times of the Afrobeat Legend through the eyes of Moore Carlos (the author of Fela’s Authorized biography titled; Fela: This Bitch of A Life).

In the 23-chapter biography, the Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti spoke about what attracted him to his 27 wives.

I’m n his words, Fela said, ‘What attracted me to each of them? Sex! I thought they were sexy and fuckable. That’s what attracts me to a woman first.

“Some came to my house on their own. Others, I had come. Why? ‘Cause I wanted to Bleep them. That was all.

“I wanted a house where I could be fucking and I had it. It grew into something else after though. Something special. But it started just with sex. The desire to Bleep.

“Man, the one most important thing in the human being is that life-giving and pleasurable sensation: sexual orgasm. And that’s what’s being condemned the most.

“Yeah. Somebody was asking me, trying to put down my ideas, if I thought sex was politics’. ‘No, I don’t,’ I said. ‘Sex is life.’ That’s what I believe.

“Me, I Bleep as often and as long as I can-o! Now, it’s not even a matter of choice. When I married twenty-seven women I knew what I was doing-o!

“Did I sleep with all of them on the night of the marriage? No. Man, I said I married twenty-seven, not seven! I only slept with one. The one next in turn. I followed my normal procedure.

You see, before I married them I’d told them: ‘Look, when I marry you, I’m gonna do the same thing I was doing before with you. It’s gonna be the same house, the same thing, but just that we’re married’.

Fela adds that, ‘Having sex must be a proud and joyful thing. People should be proud to say: ‘Last night I had a fantastic Bleep!’ Not a thing to whisper: ‘I’m having sex-o, but I’m sad.’

Sex is clean. But by bringing human laws into it, it’s made ‘dirty’. Sex is life-giving. Sex is joy! Pleasure! Happiness! To Bleep! That’s one of the most important things in life, man.”

The authorized biography was first published in 1982 and based on hours of conversation with Fela. It’s an intriguing concoction of Fela’s first-person vernacula and it also has interviews 15 of his 27 wives listed in order of seniority: Remi 1961, Naa Lamiley 1971, Aduni 1971, Kevwe 1972, Funmilayo 1972, Alake 1973, Adejonwo 1974 , Najite 1974, Adeola 1974, Kikelomo 1974, Ihase 1975, Omowunmi 1975, Omolara 1976, Fehintola 1976, Sewaa 1977.

The book; ‘Fela: This Bitch of A Life‘ is available on Amazon.

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He was a man enough for them.