Fela Kuti First African to Get Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award

I've enjoyed some of the Tuareg stuff (like Tinariwen or Tarwa N-Trini). You can see where some of the American blues came from.

King Sunny Ade is another great Nigerian artist! Ja Funmi is one of my favorites: https://youtu.be/LIO9MjfOo48?si=bZFOTgQF0SZZgT_X

Africa has a ton of fantastic musicians.

For instance, Dur Dur Band from Somalia: https://youtu.be/cVfrEmO5no4?si=aeqeufJpsKiIyvQX

Mulatu Astatke from Ethiopia: https://youtu.be/jXdVpT_aSJU?si=jMzwDIS75L9pqhxf

John Wizards from South Africa: https://youtu.be/1FNWfhmTn1M?si=lmHOUgvqxYS_P_Av

It’s a very deep well.

If I may suggest two artists besides the great Fela Kuti: William Onyeabor (try "Tomorrow") and Dizzy K Falola (try "Sweet Music").

I think "If water kill your child / Water you go use" is fairly profound, and a good demonstration of the idea that the pidgin expression refers to. And it rocks, of course.

There was also a Strong Songs episode about Fela Kuti back in November 2025:

https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/s07-bonus-the-...

It's very good, but in the end I was disappointed with how uncritical it was.

I bought the vinyl reissue of The Best of the Black President.

I think it was a mistake that Fela's cousin's criticisms were only briefly mentioned.

As well as leaving Seun Keuti unchecked after screaming "bitch, get me a pen!".

I also found it funny that they used Barack Obama's name in the marketing release but you only ever hear about ~30 seconds from him!

I dont know if youre referring to his music as "his work" - quite the opposite, we have a lot!

His family recently began releasing many albums on Bandcamp. Ive been a fan for awhile and this is likely the best collection youll find online : https://felakuti.bandcamp.com/

The Best of the Black President is a good place to start. Dive in! Fela is the godfather of Afrobeat and highlife.

> It’s sad that we don’t have recordings of his work

I am literally, while typing this reply, listening to a recording of Fela Kuti right now that I ripped myself from a CD I bought maybe 15 years ago at a physical record store.

("International Thief Thief" off of "Original Suffer Head")

Good news, you can search him on Spotify or Youtube and get tons of recordings of him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti_discography

There are recordings, and video of some his live performances.

  Lemi Ghariokwu, a renowned Nigerian artist and the designer behind 26 of Fela’s iconic album covers, says the fact that this is the first time an African musician gets this honour “just shows that whatever we as Africans need to do, we need to do it five times more.”

What withered a little on the vine was his philosophy of pan-africanism.

> all we really have are people’s recollections of him.

His children, former band members (he had big ensembles) are still performing his compositions and in his style.

eg: Seun Kuti performing a Fela Kuti number along with Newen Afrobeat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFSRCG4DrmI

He's still relevant today, he dedicated an entire album to faceless armed thugs operating as state sponsered death squads.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_(album)

  The album was a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic (a commune that Kuti had established in Nigeria), during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune.

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