- On this day in 1938, Nigerian music icon, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was born. There has never been another like him.
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Considered one of the greatest musicians to ever come out of Africa, Fela released 24 music albums during his lifetime and was a thorn in the flesh of military dictatorship and post-colonial imperialism.
1. ‘Slices of Fela’
Narrated by actor, Sahr Ngaujah who played Fela in the Broadway Musical and featuring an excerpt from the documentary Music Is The Weapon.
Slices of Fela is sliced into four parts.
2. ‘Finding Fela!’
Alex Gibney‘s Finding Fela (2014) is a sweeping portrait of the artist as guerilla warrior.
Set to the insistent groove of Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti’s revolutionary Afrobeat sound, the remarkable story of one man’s courageous stand against a corrupt and dictatorial government gives testament to the transformative power of music as a force of social and political unification.
3. ‘Fela Kuti: Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense’
A rarely seen documentary, mixing candid interviews of Fela Kuti with selected live segments from his stirring performances, this feature serves as an important guide for anyone yearning to learn more about a transformative artist in the history of and development of African music.
It is directed by Dennis Marks.
4. ‘Fela Kuti – Music Is The Weapon’
Shot in Lagos at the peak of his career in 1982, this documentary contains interviews with Fela detailing his thoughts on politics, Pan-Africanism, his music and much more.
This post first appeared on TNS.
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