You've probably heard of the father of Afrobeat bandmaster and award-winning musician Femi Kuti. And if by chance you haven't, you're missing out on one of Africa's greatest musical legends.
Fela Kuti, known by most simply as "Fela," was by turns renowned and notorious for the relentless Afrobeat sound that he blasted out of the combustible urban supernova of Lagos, Nigeria, onto the world stage beginning in late 1960s. The genre he created changed the course of music across the globe.
Fela would hold court in front of sweating, seething crowds that flocked to the shows where his 40-piece orchestra would perform half-hour-long songs. The music moved along with the gravitational force of a small planet, melding guitar and percussion riffs inspired by everything from jazz and blues to reggae, funk and soul. His lyrics were full of powerful and often angry political commentary, as well as odes to free love, marijuana use and a life unencumbered by staid notions of what was proper. Underpinning it all was an unmistakable slow-fast tempo that brought performers, audience members and frowning government lackeys alike to trancelike states of excitement.