Fela returns again

His musical performance is usually eclectic — a combination of all manners of musical instruments; from jazzy, funky horns, drums, shekere, muted West African-style guitar, to melodic bass guitar riffs. Suddenly, he raises his hands signaling the band to stop. Again in a few seconds, an interlocking melodic riffs and rhythms are introduced one by one, building the harmony bit-by-bit and layer-by-layer. The horn section then becomes prominent, introducing other riffs and main melodic themes. That’s a scenario at one of Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s performance at the famous Afrikan Shrine in Lagos.

Fela’s music has always been interesting even to his diehard foes. The lyric, instrument and the general harmony of his songs makes is music irresistible. The message of his songs and his genre of music, Afrobeat, transcend race making him a globally acclaimed music; such that many years after his demise, Fela’s still remains on the global music stage.

Some years ago, the famous musical with eponymous title Fela! produced by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis premiered on Broadway in the United States . It was a musical on the life and times of late famous Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, based on music and lyrics by the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, with additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan Mclean and additional lyrics by Jim Lewis. It is based on events in the life Fela. It portrays him in the days when he was the target of 1,000 government soldiers assigned to end his public performances at the the Shrine.

Last week Friday, a documentary titled ‘Finding Fela,’ His Music & More!’ directed by Alex Gibney premiered at theaters in the United States.

According to reports, the film tells the story of Fela’s lifefrom childhood, his music, and social and political activism. It is a close look at the man who created the pouplar genre of music, Afrobeat.

Through the documentary, the audience is brought close to Fela’s fight against the dictatorship in the 1970s as a man whose music is audacious.  He fiercely takes on government of his days. He criticised largely their style autocratic style of ruling, former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida are some of the leaders who came under Fela’s musical sledge hammer.

“Well I just saw it last week and you know it’s really good,” Seun Kuti, one of Fela’s sons, says in an online interview. “For me it’s the most accurate representation of Fela’s struggle that’s out there today.”

As highlighted in the documentary, what makes Fela’s music different is the depth of his lyric. Even his son, Seun agrees that what set his father’s music apart at all times is his lyric. A feat he is trying to surpass.

“He had written so many songs and his style of music writing was already second nature to him,” explains Seun. “For me when I write my songs and I’m writing lyrics, you know you write your lyrics and you read it, you stop, you read it, you try again; Fela didn’t have that, his mind had what it wanted to say and it just came out. He did not freestyle because he didn’t just get on stage and just say it but it’s like free-writing you know.”

“For me I can’t write lyrics that way, I am not yet that great, I have to say. You know but for me I believe being a musician is 20 percent talent and 80 percent hard work. It’s really true because as a musician you need to have inspiration to make songs. Your sound has to come to you; you have to be walking down the streets and hear your music in your head from nothing. That’s the only way to make originality.”

Seun argues that most people these days who make music, are not really musicians as they corcen themselves more with mixing sounds in the studio. “They just in the studio cut and paste and chop people’s things together then come up with a track and act like it’s their track. If you’re a good student of music that has a big repertoire you find that most things on mainstream music are songs that have been made before. So yeah that is basically what I see and for me as musicians will tell you that as you are walking on the street that original sound has to come to you. You have to hear maybe it’s a baseline or a horn section, guitar rift, it’s something you hear it back and go “this is good, it’s good progression, I’m going to keep that.” Then making that sound into music, making that sound into a song is the 80 percent hard work. But yeah that’s the process for me I hear my sound then get in the studio and make my music.”

Furthermore, lovers of Fela’s music will find the documentary interesting. It is coming at a time when most young people who do not know who Fela can learn more about this great musician. The documentary is a celebration of Fela’s courage, as a man who helped to bring a change towards democracy in Nigeria. Through his music, he promotes Pan Africanist politics to the entire world and became an inspiration in the global fight for the rights of all oppressed people. Taking audiences through a multi-threaded journey into the power of art to effect political and personal change, ‘Finding Fela’ shows the creative process behind the Broadway musical Fela!, directed and co-conceived by acclaimed choreographer Bill T. Jones. As a committed critic of the legacies of European cultural imperialism, Fela is still a major political force to reckon with when Nigerian and African politics are discussed.

Funke Osae-Brown