Name: Shakara
Brand: Fela Kuti

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

A 12067

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Colour

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

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Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2016-10-14

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

WEA /­ ADA

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

720841206712

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Total Cap

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

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.

Shakara is one of a clutch of early 1970s albums - also among them this box's Fela's London Scene and Afrodisiac - on which Fela's Afrobeat transitioned from foetal stage to something approaching full-grown form. Shakara (1971) includes three of mature Afrobeat's signature ingredients. There are two guitarists, rhythm guitarist Tutu Shoronmu and tenor guitarist Segun Edo. The pair's repetitive, interlocking riffs - part melody, part rhythm - play a similar role to the rhythm and mi-solo guitars used in contemporary Congolese rumba. Fela's Broken English lyrics extend his music's audience beyond Yoruba speakers and make his words understandable across Anglophone Africa. And female backing vocalists echo Fela's lead vocals in what was to become Afrobeat's trademark call-and-response pattern. On release, Shakara's B-side, "Lady," was jumped on by the Nigerian press as Fela's contribution to a "war between the sexes." "I want tell you about lady-o," Fela sang. "She go want take cigar before anybody, she go want make you open the door for am, she go want the man wash plate for her for kitchen, she want sit down for table before anybody." By contrast: "Africa woman, she know the man na master, she go cook for him, she go do anything for him....But lady no be so, lady na master." "Lady," like 1975's "Mattress," has been interpreted by some as "anti-women." It was certainly in conflict with European feminist thought. However the lyric is interpreted, Fela was arguing from the particular in order to highlight the general: the adoption of European social habits to the detriment of African culture. Fela would address African men in similar fashion in "Gentleman" in 1973, lampooning their adoption of European suits, shoes and ties - which caused them to "smell like shit" in the African heat - before returning to the women in 1976 in "Yellow Fever," a song about the fashion for skin whitening creams. "Shakara" is a mainly instrumental track, with a brief lyric, sung in Yoruba, warning against boasters and braggarts. Up-tempo, with a suitably turbulent horn arrangement, it includes strong solos from Fela on keyboards and the fearsome Igo Chico on tenor saxophone.

Shakara

Music US