Originally released in 1971, this LP had Fela Kuti solidifying the format that would take him into international visibility in the years to come: extended tracks with...
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These masterpieces were pivotal accomplishments for Kuti, as they solidified his rise from mere social commentator to fiercely determined cultural leader. Recorded after the...
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Part of MCA's outstanding series of "Fela Originals," this album contains the contents of two earlier Fela Kuti albums: Shakara and Fela's London Scene. Fela's London Scene...
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Fela Kuti was the James Brown of Afro-Beat music, and this brings together two of his original albums for their debut American release: 1974's He Miss Road and 1975's...
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A semi-compilation from MCA that puts two old Fela LPs onto a single CD. Shuffering and Shmiling is an attack on various non-native religions that Fela saw as encroaching...
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Although the original liner notes report that Stalemate was "recorded during the Kalakuta crisis," the album is surprisingly non-confrontational. Modern day notes explain...
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A condemnation of African skin-bleaching, "Yellow Fever" likens the practice to real diseases sweeping through the continent, employing a dark, percolating groove as a...
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This, another installment from MCA's superb recollecting of Fela's original albums, includes two of the most notable albums from the mid-'70s. Gentleman is primarily a...
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Another duo of albums on MCA's recollection of Fela Kuti's various landmarks. This double album really consists of two songs -- lengthy ones, as they tend to be anyway. The...
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Upside Down, released in 1976, is one of the more unusual items in Kuti's discography from the period. Not structurally -- it's the usual two-song, half-hour deal, the songs...
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In 1998, Victor released Na Poi/Zombie, which contained two albums -- Na Poi and Zombie -- by Fela Kuti on one compact disc. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music...
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One of the tunes that got Fela in trouble with Nigeria's military government, it's a hard-hitting bit of rhythmic agit-pop. This (Celluloid 6615) was also released in an...
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Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's "Afrobeat" music combines elements of West African highlife, horn-powered funk, jazz, and traditional Yoruba rhythms. Call-and-response African vocals...
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Even if American commercial radio did play more world music, they'd have a hard time with Fela Kuti's albums -- which tend to be very loose and improvisatory and favor...
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A CD version of one of Kuti's best albums (Black President), it also has the title track of the Original Sufferhead album. If you only buy one Kuti album, this is the one...
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Zombie was the most popular and impacting record that Fela Anikulopo Kuti and Africa 70 would record -- it ignited the nation to follow Fela's lead and antagonize the...
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I interviewed Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in 1986, when he was in Los
Angeles to play a show at the Olympic Auditorium with Egypt 80, his
troupe of 20-some-odd musicians and...
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More than two years after his death, the first coordinated reissue campaign of Fela Kuti material began with this collection, a double-disc set including 13 of his...
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Surely there are many great live recordings of Fela Anikulapo Kuti; this, however, is not one of them. In fact it's so desultory and badly produced (by reggae hot shot...
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This two-on-one-disc CD reissue brings together a couple of the more unusual offerings in Fela's discography. Upside Down, released in 1976, is the usual two-song, half-hour...
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Underground System was among the better recordings of Fela's late career, comprised of two extended tracks, the title cut and "Pansa Pansa." "Underground System" starts off...
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This is essentially a CD reissue of Fela Kuti's 1972 album Roforofo Fight, with the addition of two previously unreleased tracks from the same era. It's true that Kuti's...
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A new reissue that unearths a series of previously unreleased sides recorded between 1964 and 1968 with Fela's first band, Koola Lobitos. These songs are steeped in the...
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This CD reissue combines two 1976 releases, Ikoyi Blindness and Kalakuta Show, on one disc. Ikoyi Blindness was a middle-of-the-pack release in a sea of mid-'70s Fela...
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This CD reissue combines two early-'70s albums -- Open & Close and Afrodisiac -- on a single disc. Open & Close has just three songs, all in the ten- to 15-minute range,...
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Two 1975 albums, Monkey Banana and Excuse O, are combined onto this single-disc CD reissue. With two tracks of about a dozen minutes each, Monkey Banana was really more an...
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Perhaps one risks charges of artistic insensitivity by saying so, but by the mid-'70s Kuti's records were becoming predictable and formulaic to an extent. It was a good...
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A 1977 release (J.J.D) and a 1976 one (Unnecessary Begging) are paired together on this two-for-one CD reissue, one of the less remarkable ones in MCA's Fela series, though...
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This double album collects the original Original Suffer Head album and I.T.T. from 1980 and 1982. Original Suffer Head, from 1982 (not to be confused with the 1984-ish...
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By time of the two half-hour tracks on this CD reissue, Kuti's lyrics were as confrontational and critical of government behavior as ever. The revolutionary aspects of his...
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Fela, still due for more of a surge in popularity than he ever really got, has one more chance posthumously with this album. A number of songs from across the entirety of...
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With production help from Wally Badarou, Fela Anikulapo Kuti offers up an interesting mix of songs (well, two to be exact) in both vocal and instrumental versions. Most...
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