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| The Best Best of Fela Kuti | 
| List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $19.68
You Save: $5.30 (21%)
Buy New/Used from $19.68
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 35 reviews)
Sales Rank: 5239
Category: Music
Artist: Fela Kuti
Publisher: Mca
Studio: Mca
Manufacturer: Mca
Label: Mca
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.4
UPC: 731454319720
EAN: 0731454319720
ASIN: B00002ZZ2P
Release Date: February 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Lady | | • | Shakara | | • | Gentleman | | • | Water No Get Enemy | | • | Zombie | | • | Sorrow Tears & Blood | | • | No Agreement, Pt. 2 |
Disc 2
| • | Roforofo Fight | | • | Shuffering and Shmiling, Pt. 2 | | • | Coffin for Head of State, Pt. 2 | | • | I T T, Pt. 2 | | • | Army Arrangement, Pt. 2 | | • | O.D.O.O. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com's Best of 2000
There is nothing subtle in the roiling Afro-funk of the late, great Fela Kuti. His twitchy, stomping rhythms are up in your face, his brass section sounds ready to skirmish with the JB Horns, and his confrontational, politically charged lyrics make modern punk or hip-hop sound like parlor chatter. This phenomenal collection from an artist easily the equal of Marley, Hendrix, or Dylan is nothing less than essential. --S. Duda
Amazon.com
Political activist, outspoken radical, and inventor of Afro-beat, Fela Anikulapo ("he who carries death in his pouch") Kuti left behind him an incomparable legacy of music when he died in 1997. His struggles against the Nigerian state became the stuff of legend in his home country; his denunciations of world leaders such as Reagan and Thatcher gained him notoriety abroad. But his music remains as his supreme achievement over and above the details of his amazingly courageous life, even if many (most) of his lyrics are angry condemnations of politicians. His vast output of recordings can hardly be distilled onto two discs, but Black President (named after a classic 1981 album) is nevertheless a good introduction to this extraordinary man and his music. The album lacks any personnel details and fails to indicate the origins of each track, but it scarcely matters: Fela's band, Africa 70, was a large and always flexible group (it rarely actually boasted 70 members), with the only constant presence being his 30 backing singers, most of whom were also his wives! Throughout, the beats are solid, the solos are never overpowering, and the rhythm--the powerful, hypnotic rhythm--is always preeminent. If, in the end, it's impossible to divorce Fela Kuti's music from his life, it is at least a real pleasure just to play this album and let his grooves possess your spirit. --Mark Walker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 A pretty good CD to start a Fela Collection December 21, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having collected most of Fela's recordings, I think this is an excellent set for starting a collection. Fela is one of the most important musicians and activists of the 20th century, and I am lucky to have lived and studied in Nigeria when Fela was at the height of him musical and social power, and witnessed how his strange, empowering and confusing energy coursed through the veins of an entire country and region like a potent drug. That essence remains in his music that has not lost any of its power, not even those pieces that are over 30 years old.
Fela - The King January 27, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Wow. Fela Kuti. It's amazing that he hasn't become better known; his music is incredible. He blends orchestra, rock, jazz, and Yoruba music effortlessly. Fela Kuti is one of Nigeria's premier musicians and he has paved to road for Afro-pop music.
Songs like Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense and Unknown Soldier really show his political passion and message. If you're into political stuff, get this artist because he is very clear and outspoken about his political views. Fela was (mentally) very involved with Nigerian politics and sung of the corruption and lack of leadership that plague the nation's government even today.
Just as in Nigerian literature, Fela Kuti also sings of the nation's dislike of British colonialism, and the philosophy of the "white man's burden," which is the thought that other races are inferior to whites and that, through colonization and interaction, the whites can "educate" and culture the blacks.
If you aren't into that stuff, you should still get Fela, because he's that good. Now bear in mind, his music gets a little repetitive and "jam band-ish," so don't be surprised if you hear the same riff throughout a song. Songs like "Beasts of No Nation," and "Jingo" are very good and the orchestra's sound plays a large role in this. The accompaniment of horns and trombones and trumpets produces an infectious melody and makes you want to stand up and dance.
It's also very easy to see the roots of Fela's music. The African beat and pulse is what makes his music unique. As said earlier, he blends traditional African music with rock and jazz, concocting a mixture so delightful you will beg for more. His music is upbeat, but calming. It is calm, but urgent. It is arbitrary, but is carefully crafted. If a picture is a thousand words, then Fela Kuti is 9 billion. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not deifying him, because he also has some songs that don't shine so brightly and other songs get repetitive. However, ninety percent of the time, Kuti produces gold.
If you like Fela Kuti you should also check out Fema Kuti, his son. Unlike most movie sequels, this successor does his father, the precedent, justice and is almost as good. Ultimately though, Fela Kuti is the real deal.
Intense and Truly the Best January 23, 2006
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Bought this in 2005. Roforofo Fight has to be one of the most intense and tight songs ever recorded. It just doesn't let up! It's like Nigerian King Crimson with Eric Dolphy on alto sax! I like it like that. In some ways, I don't think American people are equipped to handle music like Fela's. We want it melodic and relaxed -- like smooth jazz -- or nonmelodic and intense -- like metal or rap. Fela is melodic and intense. I like Fear and John Coltrane and Blind Lemon Jefferson and Earl Hooker and Black Sabbath and System of a Down and Stevie Wonder and James Brown and Metallica and Ron Carter maybe that's why I like Fela Kuti. The man was a human blast furnace. He could not be tamed. And my girlfriend likes it. So that helps. Fela, in my opinion, was the man who put it all together in the 1970s. Who says 1970s music was bad? Like James Brown, Miles Davis and Led Zeppelin, Fela put out his most out-there, kicking, mindroasting music in 1975. Long live the 25 minute song !!!
Just A Taste, But It's Sweet Going Down! August 27, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Overshadowed by Bob Marley, Fela Kuti is the true non-American Black Musical innovator. Not to take anything away from Tuff Gong's claim to fame, but Fela is a Black Panther/Eldridge Cleaver mixed with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix.
This selection of his music is a good intro (much like the RED HOT & RIOT CD, which contains intreptations of Fela's Afrobeat by the likes of Macy Gray, Maxwell and Sade), but you really need to get the original albums just to see how he was rolling with his album cover art (talk about political art!), the way he dressed and carried on -- like nothing you've ever really seen.
Oh, get the DVD on Fela MUSIC IS A WEAPON to see the man perform live and drop his knowledge and what's up with Nigeria, the West and the world at large!
I recommend Coffin For Head Of State, Zombie, Expensive Sh^t and Original Sufferhead, but others might tell you diffent. To be truthful, you can't really go wrong with a Fela purchase.
does music get any better? March 15, 2005
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
of course songs like "lady" and "gentleman" are problematic, but the music is so infectious that you can't help but love fela kuti. okay, so he married however many women at once and immediately divorced them. okay, so he thought aids wasn't real. okay, okay. the man was a brilliant musician and if you don't move your body to the music when this double cd (especially the first one) is playing, something's wrong with you. recommended for people who love to dance.
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