Africa 70
Ikoyi Blindness
Fela used the cover of Ikoyi Blindness to announce his change of middle name from Ransome, which he now considered a slave name, to Anikulapo, which means “he who carries death in his pouch.” The front cover shows Ransome crossed out and Anikulapo added above it. Fela also used the album cover to announce the Africanisation of Africa 70’s name, changing it to Afrika 70. In the title track, Fela draws attention to the economic chasm separating the haves and have-nots of Nigerian society, contrast…
Kalakuta Show
"The Kalakuta Show album release was Fela’s undaunted manner of extracting revenge on the military regime that attacked and brutalized him in 1974. The second of such attacks in a space of eight months, Kalakuta Show was an attempt by the Nigerian police to influence the cause of justice. After the first police raid on Kalakuta in April 1974, Fela was charged to court for: ‘possession of dangerous drugs’, and abduction of ‘minors’. However, the evidence presented by the prosecution was easily ex…
V.I.P. (Vagabonds In Power) Vol. 1 Live In Berlin
* 2021 Repress * Knitting Factory Records reissue Fela Kuti’s ‘Army Arrangement’ on vinyl, previously only available as part of the Box Set series. ‘Army Arrangement’ is about Nigeria’s attempt at ‘democracy’ in 1979 after more than a decade of military rule.Bill Laswell’s mix of Army Arrangement for the Celluloid label was an act of gross cultural-arrogance. With Fela in jail on trumped up currency-smuggling charges when the time came to make the final mix, the label approached Dennis Bovell. B…