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Culture Press Around the World is
a regular feature of the Pop Culture Press
website and examines musical topics and artists
that fall outside of our normal editorial focus.
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By Andy Smith
 The
continent of Africa has seen an unfair share
of repressive political regimes and social struggles
over the past 50 years. First were the sometimes
vicious battles for independence with the individual
countries' various colonial rulers, which led
to former colonies gaining their right of self-government,
but too often were followed by the rule of corrupt
governments and military dictatorships.
One common force in many of these nations'
social and political struggles has been the
presence of great musical artists who have chosen
to champion the rights of the people and give
them a powerful voice against oppression. A
number of new releases spotlight the important
role that music has played in both the tribulations
and triumphs in the ongoing turmoil in some
of Africa's most prominent nations.
Perhaps the best documented battle between
artist and government took place over the course
of the 70's, 80's and 90's in Nigeria (Africa's
most populous nation) between its various military
governments and the great Nigerian musician,
Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
 Nigeria
gained its independence from Great Britain in
1960, but the task of uniting its some 250 different
ethnic groups under a democratic government
had fallen apart by 1966, resulting in the first
military coup and subsequent takeover of the
government. Then the following year, longstanding
and often bloody disputes between its Muslim
and Christian populations (specifically between
the ethnic Hausa and Igbo groups) led to the
outbreak of the brutal three-year civil war
in the eastern part of the country then known
as Biafra, from which many argue that Nigerian
society has never fully recovered.
There have been economic problems as well.
During the 1970s, due to the development of
its huge oil reserves, Nigeria had the 33rd
highest per-capita income in the world, but
the political leadership was still under military
control, and the massive amounts of oil revenue
were diverted into the pockets of a small group
of military rulers and elite citizens. There
were various attempts to return the country
to civilian rule, but each attempt was ultimately
undermined by another coup. The most notorious
of the dictators, Sani Abacha, who ruled during
most of the 90's, was accused of diverting billions
of dollars into the pockets of his associates.
By 1997, Nigeria's per capita income had dropped
to the 13th poorest in the world despite its
being ranked among the world's top ten oil producers.
During much of the 60's, Fela was living in
Great Britain and the United States, where he
was greatly influenced by the music of James
Brown and the ideas of Malcolm X and Martin
Luther King. Upon his return to Lagos (the nation's
largest city) in 1970, he became deeply troubled
by the war in Biafra and the rising level of
government oppression that had resulted from
it. Fela introduced his signature style of music--called
"Afro-Beat"--which went in consort
with his ideas about pan-Africanism , the belief
that countries should cease to exist with all
people on the continent uniting under the banner
of Africa.
Fela's uncompromising anti-government stance
in both his music and public statements, as
well as his promotion of a controversial lifestyle
that included open smoking of marijuana and
marriage to all twenty-seven of his background
singers, resulted in regular harassment and
imprisonment by the Nigerian authorities. But
thought the oppression weakened Fela physically
and ultimately impacted is musical output, it
only made him stronger in the minds of the underclass.
After his death from AIDS in 1997, it is estimated
that one million people lined the streets of
Lagos to watch his funeral procession pass.
 For
people just becoming interested in Fela, his
discography, consisting of more than 60 individual
titles, can certainly be intimidating. However,
the newly released box set from Wrasse Records,
Music Is the Weapon: The Best of
Fela Kuti, is an excellent place
to start. Consisting of two audio CDs and the
indispensable DVD Music Is the Weapon,
this set gives a vivid depiction of both the
man and his music.
The two audio CDs contain several of Fela's
most famous songs including "Zombie,"
"Shuffering and Shmiling," and the
fantastic "Sorrow Tears and Blood."
The music is a wonderfully infectious and intense
mix of African rhythms and James Brown's soul
influence all played by a thirty-odd member
band fronted by the magnetic presence of Fela,
who alternates between singing and playing saxophone,
keyboards, and percussion. Since most of the
tracks break the ten-minute mark, this music
is not for the attention-span deficient, but
people who give it even half a chance will be
absolutely hypnotized by its rhythms and riveted
by its power.
Music Is the Weapon is considered
to be the definitive Fela documentary. Filmed
in 1982 against the backdrop of mounting police
pressure against him, the film presents the
man at the height of his artistic and popular
influence. In interviews conducted in his "Kalakuta
Republic" residential compound and in concert
footage taped at his Shrine nightclub, both
located in the violent industrial Lagos suburb
of Ikeja, Fela is preserved on film as an incredibly
charismatic and iconoclastic figure. The film
also provides powerful footage of Nigeria and
the tumultuous, sprawling metropolis of Lagos,
described at the time as the most violent city
in the world.
Even more than his recordings, the film gives
insight into the person Fela was, and the sociopolitical
troubles that he openly challenged even though
the consequences were dire (including the infamous
1977 raid which resulted in his skull being
fractured and his 80-year-old mother being thrown
out of a window, directly leading to her death
soon after). The Music Is the Weapon
box set is a must for anyone interested in this
pivotal international artist.
 Another
of Nigeria's best loved and most influential
artists is King Sunny Ade,
who has been a key figure, but whose social
activism, in the form of establishing arts and
music foundations, has been used in a more constructive
co-operational manner than Fela's firebrand
methods.
Ade came into international prominence during
the early 80's through his affiliation with
Mango Records, a subsidiary of Island (known
as Bob Marley's label), and is known as the
king of Juju music, a more traditional style
involving complex polyrhythms built around guitar-driven
compositions.
Ade has been on a month-long US tour that will
hopefully reignite his career here, and the
recent Synchro Series
(Indigedisc) recording provides a great place
for new fans to start their immersion in juju.
The record, which was released in 2003 but is
gaining more attention with Ade's tour, is the
combined re-release of two of Ade's early 80's
records, which were previously only available
in Nigeria. Less aggressive and confrontational
than Fela's Afro-Beat style, the sound is a
warm, shimmering mass of guitars, drums, and
enticing vocals that bears some resemblance
to reggae. Fans who are unable to catch Ade's
current tour can still enjoy his music through
Synchro Series.
Another African nation in the midst of a highly
publicized struggle against an oppressive leader
is... Read
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