Review Summary: A pensive token of its time
In the 70’s, Nigerian society was undergoing heavy change, lots of ethnic groups reconciled and saw the rise of a military coup which brought Buhari to office. The rest, is history. M. Buhari, one of the most brutal leaders in the history of central Africa used children as soldiers, shot indiscriminately at protestors, brought a Gestapo era police state which lasted several decades.
Enter Fela,
Fela An*kúlápó Kútì born (proper), was born into a upper-middle class family in Abeokuta. His early years were marked by indecision and he settled on studying music. Afrobeat, the genre he reified and brought to the surface, is marked by a cross-pollination of 🅿️ercussive and saxophonic medley.
Beasts of no nation occupies an awkward place, while classics
Zombie, Roforofo Fight, came before, there’s a certain
cult longevity to Beasts of no Nation. Starting off with the artwork, with its problematic depiction of the Iron Lady, Reagan and an assortment of leaders, you’re in for a treat.
Ayakata ¹
The album opens up with a dizzardly bassline and colorful reed, this lasts a considerable time before Fela starts singing - dedicating his song to Buhari, and being a chad all around. The political climate surrounding this album is that Fela’s village, the hedonic “Kalakuta Republic”, was raided, his wifes beaten and mother killed in the midst of it all. This didn’t stop Fela, however, as his poignantly bellows “outside there’s an outside prison, i call it the inside world”. The repression and backlash he faced surrounding his music haunted him, but Buhari’s persecution of Kuti was far from over.
