Fela Kuti, Casino de Paris, Paris, France, 1984

Cultured Mornings

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Themba ft. Fela Kuti & Afrika 70 – Zombie Herd Mix (Song) http://dlvr.it/SXpZ7q

#FelaKuti & #Afrika70 ‘s #YellowFever — sometimes you hear #music that immediately just connects and this was one of those love at first sight listens for me, I was absolutely floored about everything about this 2 song #album. The incredibly fluid yet tight rhythm, the throbbing and uncompromising bass line , the guitars, keys, and horns marrying themselves together from simple melodies into something huge and liturgical and ceremonial like in size. On the first song, the title track, Fela’s lyrics criticize against the practices of skin bleaching in #Africa, relating it to a sickness itself, a “fever” in the sense of a popular, fast spreading, human made Sickness of the mind due to inferiority complexes brought on by anti-black colorist beauty standards, and how it contrasts and compares to “Original” sicknesses like the ACTUAL Yellow Fever (instead of figuratively, complexion wise, “yellow” fever) as well as malaria, jaundice, etc.. it’s a instrumentally traveling track with a deep sociopolitical statement that even resonates to this day. on the flip side is the 1975 version of the song “Na Poi” which is a song essentially about.. ehh.. “intimate practices” lol and the flow of the track itself really sounds like it, along with Fela basically detailing the process, the title translates to “things collide”, so I’ll leave the rest to y’all on that note lol. So All in all, it should also be noted the title track is the first song of theirs I’d ever heard and to this day is without a doubt still my favorite by them which sent me down the rabbit hole of their vast discography soon after. #vinyl #records #vinylcollection #recordplayer #70s #afrobeat #jazz #funk #soul https://www.instagram.com/p/CAjdnvwh9MM/?igshid=x467znvhcgyg

#fela #felakuti #afrika70 #sorrowtearsandblood #myrecords

Here is Fela Kuti’s song ‘Zombie’. Zombie the album was a criticism of the Nigerian government and the military.  The military burnt down Kuti's commune, Kalakuta Republic, and murdered his mother Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. The horrific events provoked Fela to write this. He describes them as ‘zombie’s’, brainwashed and taking orders with no views of their own. He would march around like a zombie on stage mocking them.