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Search - Fela: The Life Times of an African Musical Icon

Fela The Life Times of an African Musical Icon
Author: Michael E. Veal

Why black people suffer today — Why black people don't have money today — Why black people haven't travelled to the moon today — THIS is the reason why: — We were in our homeland, without troubles — We were minding our own business — Some people came from a faraway land — They fought us and took our land — They took our people as slaves and destroyed ou... more »r towns

Our troubles started at that time Our riches they took away to their land

In return they gave us their colony

They took our culture away from us

They gave us their culture which we don't understand

Black people, we don't know ourselves

We don't know our ancestral heritage

We fight each other every day

We are never together at all —

THAT is why black people suffer today Musician, political critic, and hedonist, international superstar Fela Anikulapo-Kuti created a sensation throughout his career. In his own country of Nigeria he was simultaneously adulated and loathed, often by the same people at the same time. His outspoken political views and advocacy of marijuana smoking and sexual promiscuity offended many, even as his musical brilliance enthralled them. In his creation of afrobeat, he melded African traditions with African-American and Afro-Caribbean influences to revolutionize world music. Although harassed, beaten, and jailed by Nigerian authorities, he continued his outspoken and derisive criticism of political corruption at home and economic exploitation from abroad. A volatile mixture of personal characteristics—charisma, musical talent, maverick lifestyle, populist ideology, and persistence in the face of persecution—made him a legend throughout Africa and the world. Celebrated during the 1970's as a musical innovator and spokesman for the continent's oppressed masses, he enjoyed worldwide celebrity during the 1980's and was recognized in the 1990's as a major pioneer and elder statesman of African music. By the time of his death in 1997 from AIDS-related complications, Fela had become something of a Nigerian institution. In Africa, the idea of transnational alliance, once thought to be outmoded, has gained new currency. In African-America, during a period of increasing social conservatism and ethnic polarization, Africa has re-emerged as a symbol of cultural affirmation. At such a historical moment, Fela's music offers a perspective on race, class, and nation on both sides of the Atlantic. As Professor Veal demonstrates, over three decades Fela synthesized a unique musical language while also clearing—if only temporarily—a space for popular political dissent and a type of counter-cultural expression rarely seen in West Africa. In the midst of political turmoil in Africa, as well as renewal of pro-African cultural nationalism throughout the diaspora, Fela's political music functions as a post-colonial art form that uses cross-cultural exchange to voice a unique and powerful African essentialism.

ISBN-13: 9781566397650
ISBN-10: 1566397650
Publication Date: 5/17/2000
Pages: 313
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Temple University Press
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 5
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Biographies & Memoirs >> Arts & Literature >> Composers & Musicians >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Arts & Literature >> Entertainers
Biographies & Memoirs >> Community & Culture >> Black & African American
Biographies & Memoirs >> Community & Culture >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> General
History >> Africa >> Nigeria
Humor & Entertainment >> Music >> Musical Genres >> International >> Ethnomusicology
Humor & Entertainment >> Music >> Musical Genres >> International >> International

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