The Chief Priest: Fela! on Broadway
Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria into a middle-class family. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement and his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a Protestant minister and school principal, was the first president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers. His brothers, Beko Ransome-Kuti and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, both medical doctors, are well-known in Nigeria. Olikoye was Nigeria’s longest-serving Health Minister.
Sent to London to study medicine, Fela changed his major to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music where he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a fusion of jazz and highlife. In 1960, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor, with whom he would have three children (Femi, Yeni, and Sola). In 1963, Fela moved back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and in 1967, he invented his musical genre Afrobeat. In 1969, while touring the United States, Fela discovered the Black Power movement which influenced his music and political views, causing him to rename his band Nigeria ’70, which became The Africa ’70, as his lyrical themes focused more on social issues. Fela set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, named the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika Shrine, where he performed regularly. Fela also changed his middle name to Anikulapo (meaning “he who carries death in his pouch”), stating that his original middle name of Ransome was a slave name. He made the decision to sing in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. Kuti believed that the most important thing for Africans is to unite in the fight against European cultural imperialism. Between the 1970s and early 1980s, Fela published a series of satiric writings titled, Chief Priest, Say through which he tried to raise social consciousness on issues ranging from religion and colonialism to sex. His writings were an extension of his highly popular performances at the Africa 70 Shrine and included incantations and wordplay.
Although born and raised in a Christian home, Kuti became a supporter of traditional religions and lifestyles, criticizing the African upper class for betraying traditional African culture such as polygyny, which he practised when he formed the Kalakuta Republic as a polygamist commune, and recording studio for many connected to the band. He later declared the Kalakuta republic independent from the Nigerian state. He was a candid supporter of human rights, and many of his songs are direct attacks against Nigeria’s military dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s. His music infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic in 1974, during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his elderly mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela’s studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed. Fela claimed that he would have been killed if it was not for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela’s response to the attack was to deliver his mother’s coffin to the Dodan Barracks in Lagos, General Olusegun Obasanjo’s residence, and to write two songs, “Coffin for Head of State” and “Unknown Soldier”, referencing the official inquiry that claimed the commune had been destroyed by an unknown soldier.
In 1978 Fela married twenty-seven women, many of whom were his dancers, composers, and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic. Later, he adopted a rotation system of keeping only twelve simultaneous wives. He formed his own political party, which he called the Movement of the People (MOP). In 1979 he put himself forward for President in Nigeria’s first elections for more than a decade but his candidature was refused. In 1984, he was again attacked by the military government, who jailed him on a dubious charge of currency smuggling. His case was taken up by several human-rights groups, and after 20 months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his twelve remaining wives, saying that “marriage brings jealousy and selfishness”. On 3 August 1997, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, a prominent AIDS activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his younger brother’s death a day earlier from Kaposi’s sarcoma brought on by AIDS. More than a million people attended Fela’s funeral at the site of the old Shrine compound.
In recent years there has been a revitalization of Fela’s influence on music and popular culture, culminating in another full re-release of his catalogue controlled by Universal Music, off-and-on Broadway biopic shows, and new bands, such as Antibalas and London Afrobeat Collective, who carry the Afrobeat banner to a new generation of listeners. In 1999, Universal Music France, under the aegis of Francis Kertekian, remastered the 45 albums that it controlled and released them on twenty-six compact discs. These titles were licensed to other territories of the world with the exception of Nigeria and Japan, where Fela’s music was controlled by other companies. In 2005, Universal Music USA licensed all of its so-called world-music titles to the UK-based label Wrasse Records, which repackaged the same twenty-six CDs for distribution in the USA (replacing the MCA-issued titles there) and the UK. In 2009, Universal created a new deal for the USA with Knitting Factory Records, which included the release of the Fela! Broadway cast album.
In 2008, an off-Broadway production of Fela Kuti’s life titled Fela! began with a collaborative workshop between the Afrobeat band Antibalas and Tony award winner Bill T. Jones. The show was a massive success, selling out shows during its run, and garnering much critical acclaim. On November 22, 2009, Fela! began a run on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theater. Jim Lewis helped co-write the play (along with Bill T. Jones) and obtained producer backing from Jay-Z, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Stephen Hendel, and Stephen Semlitz. The show received rave reviews from The New York Times, saying that the musical “[Fela!] doesn’t so much tell a story as soak an audience to and through the skin with the musical style and sensibility practised by its leading man.” Sahr Ngaujah and Kevin Mambo share/alternate the magnetic lead role, and Antibalas continues to provide the music, taking on the role of Nigeria 70. On May 4, 2010, Fela! was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Bill T. Jones, Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Sahr Ngaujah, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Lillias White.
On August 18, 2009, award-winning DJ J.Period released a free mixtape to the general public via his website that was a collaboration with Somali-born hip hop artist K’naan paying tribute to Fela, Bob Marley and Bob Dylan entitled The Messengers. In October 2009, Knitting Factory Records began the process of re-releasing the 45 titles that Universal Music controls, starting with yet another re-release of the compilation The Best of the Black President in the USA. The rest is expected to be released in 2010.
In addition, a movie by Focus Features, directed by Steve McQueen and written by Biyi Bandele about the life of Fela Kuti is slated to be filmed in 2010.
FELA!, the most critically acclaimed new musical of the season, has received three Tony Awards®: Best Choreography, Best Costume Design for a Musical and Best Sound Design of a Musical. The Broadway show features Grammy winner and multi-platinum recording artist Patti LaBelle.
Watch Fela! in the US through 2011
Watch Fela! in the UK through 2011
