Fela Kuti | Documentary

Fela Anikulapo Kuti (15 October 1938 - 2 August 1997), or simply Fela ([feˈlæ]) was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.



Fela's music became very popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general.[8] In fact, he made the decision to sing in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As popular as Fela's music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was also very unpopular with the ruling government, and raids on the Kalakuta Republic were frequent.

Kalakuta Republic was the name musician and political activist Fela Kuti gave to the communal compound that housed his family, band members, and recording studio. Located at 14 Agege Motor Road, Idi-Oro, Mushin, Lagos, Nigeria it had a free health clinic, and recording facility. Fela declared it independent from the Nigerian government after he returned from the United States in 1970.[1]
The word "kalakuta" was a caricature of a prison cell named Calcutta that Fela inhabited.[2] The compound burned to the ground on February 18, 1977 after an assault by a thousand armed soldiers.
Before the attack on Fela's home, he made a record called Zombie, about the Nigerian military regime. In the song, soldiers are called zombies for obeying orders blindly. One of the lines of the song, in pidgin English says, "Zombie no go walk unless you tell am to walk", i.e., a zombie won't walk unless commanded to. While not criticising the idea of military service generally[citation needed], Fela was frustrated with the Nigerian army's rank and file that allowed corruption and intimidation of their communities by the corrupt and rich top brass, while blindly following orders to intimidate Nigerians.

Read More | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti

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