Fela’s Legacy Is Not About Wealth Or Money
Like Eric Donaldson sang in his irreplaceable classic, Land of My Birth to wit:
“The progress you make in life , is not always how rich you are”
Greatness is not measured by riches,but by immortal footprints in the sands of time relating to how one has impacted the society, nay the world.
Fela Improved The Positive Imaging Of The Blackman
Fela was an epitome of our collective struggles for world citizenship, black consciousness, negrito aspirations,fighting neo colonialism and deliberate miseducation.
He was a graduate of musicology from the prestigious Trinity College of Music in London
Afrobeats Is From Fela’s Afrobeat
And Fela was the undisputed founder of the Afrobeat genre of music in 1962. The word Afrobeat was as coined by Fela’ s English manager in 1962. This alone seamlessly makes Fela unbeatable. What Whiz Kid is now playing is Afrobeats which is a child of Afrobeat.
Afrobeats is a fusion of multiple beats to rhyme his jams. Whilst Fela is just the fusion of jazz and our native rhythm (kpangolo) according to Majek
With the latter version as a conveyor for black consciousness and freedom from mental slavery .And whilst also using same as a weapon for our emancipation
The Real And Original Wiz Kid Emerged From Great Uniben 36 Years Ago In 1990 Vide The Quill Magazine Naming Him De Whizzle
Even the name Wiz Kid is debatable as the Original “Whiz” is from the greatest of the greatest Uniben.
The full name na the”, Whizzle ‘ and so added the Wizard” cos as the guy dey groove and baff up, na so e dey pass him exam like Wizard.
So the school shorten am to the,Wiz “( used interchangeably as the “whiz”) So if Fela spirit vex, I go sue for stolen alias in law.
Interestingly, in the Nigerian home video titled “Rampage”, shot inside Uniben, Francis Duru as the main character, when e baff up come out for the film, dem hail am as “De Whiz”
Fela Founded Afro Beat In 1962 Ahead of Reggae In 1969 By Hibbert Maytal ( See Guinness Book of Records)
So if Fela founded Afrobeat 64 years ago,even ahead of Reggae in 1969, Fela cannot have a match locally or internationally
Fela Performed Globally And In The Americas Too
More significantly in the international scene, not only in France or Berlin, Fela also performed in the UK and particularly in the USA very well, with Sandra who introduced him to the teachings of Malcolm X
They later sang the hit track” Upside Down “
I remember my dad bought from UK in mid 70s, the first Fela album in our house titled” Fela live in London”
As a diehard musical collector, I have that CD in my archive I bought in 1995 during my post grad at the LSE
Fela Was Backed Up By Two Of The World ‘s Best Drummers To Wit:
Ginger Baker of the Legendary Rare Earth And Sly Dumbar ( just deceased) Of Taxi Promotions.
In his illuminating career, Fela had the exceptional privilege to be backed up by two of the world’s best drummers. The first is Ginger Baker of the legendary Rare Earth..Get Ready until I come. Baker was on the drums as they both played the scintillating “Yeye Dey Smell” in the 1974 Fela in London concert.
The second was Sly Dumbar of the Taxi Promotions
Sly before his passing last week was currently the world’s best drummer
And he has played with musical heavy weights like, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Grace Jones, Black Uhuru etc. Sly played the drums for Fela in France on his master piece “Army Arrangement” using electric drums for the first time in Fela’ music
Fela Played All Musical Instruments Except The Guitar
Instructively, Fela plays all musical instruments apart from the guitar. Mr Ayodele Balogun, aka Wizkid, Which instrument you dey play?
See flavour on guitar and Timaya on drums as well as Majek on acoustic lead guitar and even kpankolo sef; and see Emma Grey Afrik Wadada canning the drums
Dem don Born him house before? For fighting for us?
Fela Voted Amongst 100 Most Influential People In The World By The Influential Time Magazine
And for the record, the world recognition which our kid bloodline is yet to ever receive, is Fela being listed in TIME MAGAZINE as one of The World’s Most Influential People in the year he passed
Only two Nigerians hitherto had been in the front of the prestigious Time Magazine, to wit: General Yakubu Gowon during the civil war, and Sade Adu in the mid 80s for winning Grammys vide her evergreen “Smooth Operator” album; and
Fela followed up in classic succession
Fela Winning Posthumous Grammy Award?
This is a well thought out and deserved honour to an unbeatable African irredentist and global revolutionary.
Fela’s music till date, like that of his equally formidable counterpart,the great Robert Nesta Marley, continues to lift the spirit of our collective struggles for all freedoms of mankind,and also for global equality of all race in the comity of nations
“Me I No Go Gree Make My Brother Hungry ,Make I No Talk”
That is Compassion XD rate Fela for you ,as “Asset” to the” Collective”
Indeed,Fela was A BORN FREEDOM FIGHTER FOR THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE OF THIS “WILD” WORLD, as coined by the iconic, James Chambers aka Jimmy Cliff
Congratulations Ebami Eda.
Outstanding, Grandstanding ,Standing Ovation !!!
Dissemination by:
Dr Akpo Mudiaga Odje
Constitutional Lawyer
The Maiden And Original “Whiz”
