fela-kuti

Father of Afrobeat lands on online music platform.

A new Bandcamp page has appeared featuring a ton of the late Fela Kuti‘s back catalogue. Multi-instrumentalist, composer, pioneer of Afrobeat and political activist, Fela Kuti’s work is among one of the greatest gifts to the world and has been the subject of continuous post-humous releases across a variety of labels.

There is little information as to which body has overseen the Bandcamp move, and some people online have rightfully expressed curiosity as to the source of this catalogue addition. FACT reached out to Bandcamp for an official statement, who told us that the Knitting Factory are behind the new Fela Kuti page. They are collecting all profits from sales and have the rights to do so.

Andrew Jervis, head of curation at Bandcamp, said: “Im delighted to be able to have those tunes in my collection and on my mobile, and am hoping they add vinyl so I can fill a hole or two. I think it only makes sense for legendary artists like Fela (and labels) to post back catalog because music fans have got their favorite places to buy, and increasingly it makes no sense to have music available on one platform but not another.”

As with most musical pioneers and geniuses, Fela’s body of work is extensive and can feel slightly daunting for newcomers. The Bandcamp page features 48 releases from Fela’s catalogue all of which appear to be available as digital only. We recommend you take a listen to The Best of The Black President, Live in Detroit (1986) and Zombie if you want a good place to start.

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