- published: 21 Jul 2011
- views: 707601
Fela Anikulapo Kuti (15 October 1938 — 2 August 1997), or simply Fela ([feˈlæ]), was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.
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. Fela was a first cousin to the Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, the first African to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.
Fela was sent to London in 1958 to study medicine but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, 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 trained as a radio producer for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He played for some time with Victor Olaiya and his All Stars.
Eran na goat o, for Yoruba land
Eran na goat o, for Yoruba land
Him go bend him yansh him go shit
Him go commot away from him shit
Him shit go be the last thing wey he go like to see
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Obo na monkey for Yoruba land
Him go bend him yansh him go shit
Him go commot away from him shit
Him shit go be the last thing wey he go like to see
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Obinrin na woman for Yoruba land
Obinrin na woman for Yoruba land
She go bend she yansh she go shit
She go commot away from she shit
She shit go be the last thing wey she go like to see
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Okunrin na man for Yoruba land
Okunrin na man for Yoruba land
Him go bend him yansh him go shit
Him go commot away from him shit
Shit go be the last thing wey he go like to see
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Because why o? (Because the shit dey smell!)
Tell me now now
Me I be Fela, I be Black Power man
Me I be Fela, I be Black Power man
I go bend my yansh I go shit
I go commot away from the shit
The shit go be the last thing wey I go like to see
No be so for some fools wey I know
No be so for some stupid people I know
No be so for some fools wey I know
People wey go like to quench your soul
People wey go like to quench your soul
[Chorus]
En! Alagbon o
Them go use your shit to put you for jail
And don tell my shit too expensive shit
My shit na exhibit, it must not lost o
And don tell my shit too expensive shit
My shit na exhibit, it must not lost o
En! Alagbon o
En! Alagbon o
En! Alagbon o
En! Alagbon o