We''re guessing Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents didn't have The Good Leaf, Seun Kuti's hymn of praise to marijuana, playing on their iPods last week when they raided his late father's house and arrested one of his wives and a couple of others for allegedly being in possession of 340 grammes of dried weed. Nah, they couldn't have done; they're not known for their sense of humour, even less for their sense of irony.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti was the most outspoken critic of Nigeria's government from the 1970s right up until his death in 1997, so the authorities never wasted an opportunity to raid his home (Kalakuta Republic). Seun is carrying the torch for his father by continuing to make politically charged music about the state of Africa, with attacks on the military, on neocolonialists, on multinationals such as Monsanto and Halliburton, and, above all, on a government that seems intent on selling the country from under the feet of its people while offering empty words. As he says in Rise, a track from his latest album, Our ears don full for your words, our stomach still empty.
Seun Kuti "Rise" by user7815855
Incidentally, producer Swizz Beatz just did a remix of Rise, and you can download this and the original by clicking on the arrows in the respective embeds.
Seun Kuti x Swizz Beatz "Rise (Remix)" by user7815855
How the Nigerian authorities must hate hearing the name 'Kuti'.
In this short interview, Seun gives his views on African government, the role of his music, and on his latest album, From Africa With Fury: Rise. He's not wrong about this album being his best work to date.
He has some strong words for hip hop artists in this next interview. He's right about many of today's biggest hip hop artists selling out the genre, but there's no shortage of socially- and politically-engaged artists on the African hip-hop and rap scene: Blitz the Ambassador, M.anifest, K'naan, Mohammed Yahya, Didier Awadi, Wanlov, M3NSA, Arabian Knightz, Art Melody, Outspoken, Ukoo Flani, etc.
From Africa With Fury: Rise is out on Knitting Factory Records
SEUN KUTI ONLINE
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