In 2021, Mádé Kuti built upon the legacy of his father Femi and legendary grandfather Fela with the release of his debut album For(e)ward. The album was released alongside Femi’s eleventh full-length release Stop The Hate as part of the aptly named double album Legacy + (one of the best protest albums of 2021). After completion of a U.S. tour […]
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Fela Kuti is a pioneer of afrobeat and one of the most important socially conscious musicians of all-time. He was also announced as one of 16 nominees for induction into the 2021 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We will have to wait and see if he gets inducted, but it was a long-overdue acknowledgment for an […]
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Influential Nigerian drummer Tony Allen sadly passed away on April 30, 2020, at the age of 79. He was considered a pioneer of the Afrobeat genre for his work with Fela Kuti as the drummer and music director of Fela’s backing band Africa ’70. After parting ways with Fela in 1979 he continued to be active in a variety of […]
Learn more →As part of an online archival project a poll was posted to nominate artists, songs, and albums that have made considerable contributions to the historical development of protest music. Based on the results of that poll another poll was posted featuring the list of nominees. Based on the final results we now have the list of the inaugural inductees into […]
Learn more →80 Years of Protest Songs Part 1: 1939-1958 80 Years of Protest Songs Part 3: 1979-1998 80 Years of Protest Songs Part 4: 1999-2018 The 1960s ushered in what is often considered the golden age of protest tunes. Civil rights and the Vietnam War were hot button topics. Many of these issues spilled over into the 70s. Along with folk […]
Learn more →Femi Kuti is not only the oldest son of the legendary Fela Kuti, but he also established himself as an important socially conscious afrobeat artist in his own right. As a teenager Kuti started his music career in his father’s band Egypt 80 (which is now fronted by his younger brother Seun). In 1986 he broke off from his dad […]
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