CENTERSTAGE
Fela Anikulapo Kuti doesn’t just talk Revolution and Power Struggle and anti-authoritarian sentiments. In Africa, such talk is enough to put your freedom on the line, and by and large, most African musicians play it safe, restricting their lyrics to universalist messages of love and peace that avoid directly criticizing those in power.
CENTERSTAGE
TRIBAL BIBLE
FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI Felt Forum, New York November 8, 1986
by Richard Grabel
Fela Anikulapo Kuti doesn’t just talk Revolution and Power Struggle and antiauthoritarian sentiments. In Africa, such talk is enough to put your freedom on the line, and by and large, most African musicians play it safe, restricting their lyrics to universalist messages of love and peace that avoid directly criticizing those in power. But Fela takes on the bosses in every song, and even offstage he lives by his words. In the process, he gives everyone from the Nigerian government to various record companies to liberal western journalists (who sometimes think he’s sexist for keeping 27 wives) apolplexy. But Fela just keeps on.