The Afrobeat Spotlight: Fela Kuti

   Fela Anikulapo Kuti is probably considered to be the pioneer of the Afrobeat genre of music; as mentioned in the last entry, he is founder of the word 'Afrobeat'. Kuti has definitely kept in touch with his Nigerian roots and it can be both heard in his music and seen in his shows. 

  Kuti uses his songs more than as a way to share African music to the world, but also as a way to share political messages; it is noticeable in his song titles and his lyrics. "Zombie" was a song that Kuti composed and performed as a way to attack the Nigerian soldiers. It was named 'zombie' because that was how Kuti viewed the Nigerian soldiers to be, taking orders from the government blindly. The song resulted in him being severely beaten and his mother thrown out the window sustaining fatal injuries. 

   "Zombie" sounds very jazzy because of the heavy saxophone playing, but if you listen closely, you can hear some African instruments that are played, such as the native "tinker pan" African-style percussion, shekere (a dried gourd with beads), and the muted West African-style guitar. 

  Kuti is most definitely a unique musician in that he loves to fuse ancestral African style instruments and beats with modern instruments. He is a fighter, an activist, and a musician - all in all, he is just an awesome person who is worth checking out. Enjoy the music video for "Zombie" which is down below!