Fela Kuti – Rare Radio Interview

Artist: Fela Kuti

Born: 15 October 1938

Band: Fela Ransome Kuti & The Africa 70

Country: Nigeria

Soundway Albums featured on: Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sounds of 1970s Nigeria

Tracks featured ‘Who’re You’ (Original 45 version)






Extract from Nigeria Afrobeat Special liner notes on Fela Kuti, written by Miles Cleret.

“In 1969 a thirty-one-year-old Fela Ransome Kuti was leaving Nigeria for the USA with his Koola Lobitos highlife jazz band, which, after eight years of persistence, had failed to make major inroads into the Nigerian recording scene. When he returned home in early 1970, the sound that had left as a slightly hesitant, breezy, light concoction had returned with a new impetus and power that had not until this time been witnessed in the recording studios of Lagos and Nigeria. Fela had recorded for Philips and EMI but neither had enjoyed much commercial success with him. Along with his newly named Nigeria 70 band he had made some recordings in Los Angeles that reflected his new, far more energetic approach to music but as yet they had not been released. ”

Radio Interview

Below is a very rare radio interview with Fela Kuti, recorded at the beginning of the 1970s in London, not long after he had returned from the USA. The track featured in the original interview is ‘Who’re You’ and the original 45 version is available on Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sounds of 1970s Nigeria

Fela In Performance

The video below shows rare early footage of Fela in performance in 1971, shortly after the Nigerian civil war.