Knitting Factory

Another long-thought-lost gem from the Fela Anikulapo Kuti archives, Open & Close was originally released in 1971 and is a total groove-fest loaded to the gills with raucous horn blowing, ferocious percussion (once again, Tony Allen take a bow), and song

Gentleman is both an Africa 70 and Afro-beat masterpiece. High marks go to the scathing commentary that Fela Anikulapo Kuti lets loose but also to the instrumentation and the overall arrangements, as they prove to be some of the most interesting and innov

The fury stirred up among the Nigerian police and military by Fela’s confrontational Alagbon Close (1974) and Kalakuta Show (1976), and the beatings and harassments Fela and Africa 70 suffered as a consequence, were as nothing compared to the reprisals fo

"Roforofo Fight" is the 4th in the series of celebratory Fela 50th Anniversary reissues. Like its predecessors in the series, this version will be on color vinyl and the LP will be wrapped in a gold foil obi-strip with a brief essay on the album and Fela'

It's impossible to go wrong with Fela Kuti's work from the 1970s, and LIVE! With Ginger Baker, which features the Afrobeat innovator backed by his powerhouse band Africa '70 and ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker, is no exception. Every cut crackles from begin

Coloured vinyl! Fela Kuti (1938-1997) was a Nigerian musician, producer, arranger, political radical, outlaw and the originator of Afrobeat. A titanic musical and sociopolitical voice, Fela’s legacy spans, decades and genres, touching on jazz, pop, funk,

Yellow Fever' features original album artwork designed by Lemi Ghariokwu, who created the cover art for around half of Fela’s albums. 'Yellow Fever’ was originally released in 1976, during Fela’s extraordinarily prolific 1975-77 purple period, when he rel

“Fear Not For Man” sounds like a work in progress interrupted by the February 1977 attack, to which Fela’s two vocal choruses may or may not have been added after the event. After citing Kwame Nkrumah’s motto “the secret of life is to have no fear,” Fela

Upside Down (1976): Upside Down was written to portray a worldly travelled African, who searches the dictionary, and finds the definition of upside down a perfect description of the African situation.

This 1971 recording captured at the legendary Abbey Road studios highlights the growth of Fela as a player and Afrobeat as a style and sound; the tracks are complex, jazzy and still immediately accessible. This five track album features two classic perfor

He Miss Road combines the sound of James Brown-style 70s funk with a stripped down Afrobeat performance. Ginger Baker produced this ethereal, nearly psychedelic album with Tony Allen on drums, backed by Fela’s Africa 70 band. The title track refers to the

Beasts Of No Nation, originally released in 1989, was an indictment of the corruption and repression in post-colonial Africa. The album, whose single track took up both sides of the vinyl LP, addressed a variety of targets, each of them, said Fela, guilty

Nigerian police, seeking to put down this independent-minded rascal, tried to plant a joint on Kuti during a gathering at his home. Wise to their plan, he quickly swallowed the joint, but the police then threw him in jail to produce the evidence from his

In “I.T.T.” Fela delivers eviscerating attacks on two of his biggest personal enemies: former Nigerian president General Obasanjo, and the local chief executive of the multi-national corporations Internal Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) and Decca Records, Chi

Knitting Factory Records reissues Fela Kuti's No Agreement on vinyl LP, previously only available as part of the Box Set series. No Agreement is sometimes overlooked among Fela's 1977 releases, eclipsed by albums such as J.J.D. (Johnny Just Drop) and Sorr

Music of Many Colours is a joint album between Roy Ayers and Fela Kuti, recorded after a three week tour of Nigeria's major cities in 1979, during which Ayers performed as the opening act for Fela's band. The two artists decided to record the album as a r