To the uninitiated Fela Kuti may sound suspiciously like some vulgar euphemism, but to music aficionados the name rings a resounding bell or better yet blows a bellowing trumpet, Fela standing firm and proud as one of the greatest artists to have hitherto graced the African or indeed any other of the continents.
A multi-instrumentalist equally at home on the saxophone or keyboards, backed by a raucously pulsating band which featured a couple of baritone sax, interlocking guitar riffs, and a clamoring horn section, Kuti was the restless innovator behind the genre of Afrobeat, a blend of jazz, funk, and West African highlife. His songs typically ran long, and whether in the call-and-response or pidgin English of his verse, or on the page in his guise as political columnist, Kuti protested against corruption in Nigeria and the legacy of colonialism which continued to haunt Africa.
It has already been a pretty good year for old Anikulapo, because it was around this time in 2015 that we saw the worldwide release of Beasts of No Nation. Starring Idris Elba, even as a brutal rebel commandant still ruggedly handsome, Cary Fukunaga’s film was based on a novel by Uzodinma Iweala, but both took their name from Kuti’s acclaimed 1989 album.
That sort of thing can restore Kuti’s music to the global attention, but in his home of Lagos, he’s never been forgotten, nor displaced for one moment from the innermost hearts of his people. Fela died in 1997 as a result of AIDS-related complications. His son Femi soon opened the New Afrika Shrine in Ikeja in his honour, and in 1998 his daughter Yeni conceived Felabration.
The festival has taken place at the New Afrika Shrine every October since, routinely attracting Nigeria’s best and brightest musicians. This year’s iteration, with the theme ‘Everybody Say Yeah Yeah’, opened with a symposium ‘Against Second Slavery’, and saw visitors flock in record numbers. The week-long affair showcased the talents of artists like Nneka, Akorede Sax, Jesse Jagz, and Patoranking, reaching a crescendo with Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80 alongside the searing saxophone of Femi.
The Shimmering Ostrich has a confession to make, because neither the bird itself nor any of its correspondents found time to visit Felabration itself or its numerous big city outsourcings. But glancing from afar, amid all that riot of colour and dancing, it sure looks like everybody involved had plenty of fun.
