Artist.......: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
Album........: Many Things
Label........: t⌠t Ou tard
Genre........: Ethnic
Catnr........: n/a
Source.......: CDDA
Rip.date.....: May-10-2008
Str.date.....: Apr-28-2008
Quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: n/a
track title time
01. think africa 06:52
02. don't give that shit to me 09:24
03. many things 08:04
04. fire dance 08:11
05. mosquito song 07:26
06. na oil 08:12
07. african problems 05:01
Runtime 53:10 min
Size 81,3 MB
Release Notes:
You probably know Fela Kuti and his son Femi. Well now you
will have to take count of Seun, the new prince of Afro
beat. The youngest son of the most famous singer from
Nigeria releases his first album "Many Things".
Right from the very first notes of the album the Afro beat
stamp, inherited from the famous Fela Anikulapo Kuti
(1938-1997) with energetic and throbbing grooves and
generous and triumphing brass winds, cannot be missed.
Both music and voice alike. Egypt 80, the father's band
has now become the son's band.
Seun Kuti, releasing his first album "Many Things" at age
25, does not deny his father's influence in his music.
Last April, during his most recent visit to Afrik.com he
declared "I am very inspired by my father. Although our
are personalities differ the music remains the same." He
knows time will be necessary to make a first name for
himself, but some aspects of his music promise a renewal.
The young man, introduced to the art of singing, saxophone
and piano by his father and his band, has been playing
music since childhood. And although he has performed in
several concerts around the world over the past few years
he had never ù prior to this release ù recorded an album.
After going through quite an adventure to find a producer
the French label T⌠t ou Tard agreed to sign him for his
debut album.
The songs on his album carry strong political content such
as corruption, war, and violence. Africa's troubles,
exactly the same issues Fela denounced on stage. According
to Seun these troubles have not been solved since the 80's
and have in fact worsened. This is true all over Africa
but even more for his country Nigeria where "about 1% of
the population has 90% of all resources" and the local
government can be likened to the "mafia". This
catastrophic situation that, unlike many other artists,
prevents him from being proud of his continent: "I am not
proud of being African, I am not proud of being from the
beggar continent!"
Seun Kuti considers that the troubles and failures that
Africa faces are consequences of colonization and the
trauma caused by this tragedy. "The African people were
humiliated and rejected for a long time. Since the
colonial period they are considered slaves, second zone
individuals, garbage (à) "Nowadays this foul image is part
of every African's psychology, each of us has it in himà"
he diagnoses.
For musicians, Afro beat and its message is one of the
best ways of fighting against this evil, enlightening
Africans to the injustice and misdeed of their leaders,
and giving them their self confidence again. A real
musical therapy.