Fela Kuti

Born in Abeokuta in 1938 and based between London, Lagos and the international stages, Fela Kuti shaped Afrobeat from a singular cross between highlife, jazz, funk, Yoruba chants and West African grooves stretched over long forms. Initially active with Koola Lobitos at the end of the 1950s and the early 1960s, he refined his language after a stay in the United States in 1969, then developed in Lagos, with Africa 70 and drummer Tony Allen, a music based on brass lines, rhythmic loops, chanting in Nigerian pidgin and a strong collective dimension. Fela Kuti quickly inscribed this aesthetic into a frontal political context, in line with his positions against Nigerian military regimes, which marks both his trajectory and his performances at the Afrika Shrine or the Kalakuta Republic period. Among his most documented albums are Zombie (1977), Sorrow Tears and Blood (1977), Coffin for Head of State (1981), Original Sufferhead (1981), Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense (1986) and Beasts of No Nation (1989). In the 1980s, Fela Kuti extended his tours in Europe and the United States with Egypt 80, while maintaining a dense, repetitive and orchestral musical approach, where trance, social satire and improvisation hold a central place. He died in Lagos in 1997; Fela Kuti remains a lasting reference in the history of African and diasporic music.