Name: Upside Down
Brand: Fela Kuti

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

LP-KFR-2023

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2016-10-14

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Redeye

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

720841205913

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Fela Kuti

Genre US

African

Label US

Knitting Factory

Fela Kuti, born on 15 October 1938 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, was a legendary musician and human rights revolutionary. He formed his first group Koola Lobitos in 1963 and later changed the name to Afrika 70. Fela's vision and collaboration with key members like drummer Tony Allen ensured that the jazz, funk, and afrobeat style remained consistent throughout the decades. Known for his political activism, Fela started his own party to protest corruption in Nigeria. His influence on funk and African music is unparalleled, with a discography of approximately 77 albums.

After visiting America in 1969, Fela returned to Nigeria and opened club Afro Spot in Lagos. He collaborated with renowned musicians such as Ginger Baker and Bobby Tench from The Jeff Beck Group on notable albums like "Ginger Baker Live with Afrika 70" (1971) and "Stratavarious" (1972). In 1981, he renamed his group Egypt 80.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti, formerly known as Fela Ransome-Kuti until about 1978, was not only a musical icon but also a symbol of resistance against oppression. He established his own compound called the Kalakuta Republic in Lagos which he declared independent from Nigeria. However, this led to constant harassment by the government towards him and his numerous wives.

Upside Down and Zombie, both released in 1976, were made at the mid-point of an extraordinary three-year purple period during which Fela recorded 24 albums of new material. Upside Down is unusual in that it includes a second lead vocalist, Fela's American friend Sandra Izsadore, who he'd known since touring the US in 1969. Fela went through some important changes during the tour. The most far-reaching of these followed his befriending of Izsadore, a black rights activist who introduced him to the writings of Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Huey Newton and other revolutionary thinkers. Fela later credited Izsadore with helping inspire his philosophy of Blackism. Izsadore was one of two women who played key roles in firing Fela's political awareness. The other was his mother, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. A friend of independent Ghana's founding president, Kwame Nkrumah, she had been an early champion of Nigerian women's rights and a prominent campaigner for Nigerian independence. In 1970, Izsadore stayed with Fela in Nigeria for six months, and returned for a shorter visit in 1976, when she sang on the title track of Upside Down. Izsadore is a competent vocalist, but, her presence aside, the main interest is in the lyrics, in which Fela observes that much in Nigerian civic society is a shambles: "head for down, yansch for up" (head down, arse up). "Go Slow" was one of several songs Fela recorded which critiqued the consequences of over-rapid urbanization - in this case, traffic jams - using them as a metaphor to describe deeper social breakdowns.

Upside Down

Music US