Sometimes in life you get overwhelmed, in this case positively overwhelmed, by a book, a piece of music, a painting, a movie… Something sweeps you off your feet and makes you stop, think and reflect on what you just experienced.
Fela Kuti – Fear No Man was one of those cases. An extremely well-crafted podcast series (13 episodes in total) about the life and work of Fela Kuti, it gave me so much more than I was expecting when I started it. Its narrative quality and care sometimes made me enter a state of flow while listening, that state where time becomes relative and goes by so quickly.
Why I liked it so much?
1. Introduced to my universe a major 20th-century artist that I was completely ignorant about.
2. Introduced me to his music and work, which, on top of everything, I really liked.
3. Provided me a brief walk-through of recent Nigerian history, through the lens of his life.
4. Made me stop and think, more than once, about how people live their lives in such a different, rich, and by the same token difficult and complex environment, so far away from my reality.
5. Learnt about music concepts I was not aware of: the “ostinato” rhythm, which makes me feel at home, and “counterpoint,” which is the base of his music and, surprise, surprise, entangles his music with Bach’s one (surprised?).
6. How the author did not sugar-coat the most controversial areas of Fela Kuti’s life, which adds a strong plus to the full narrative.
If you want to jump to a completely different world and reality without leaving yours, if you want to get to know Fela Kuti, or if you already know him and want to deepen that knowledge, do not waste this opportunity. Start the journey.
I hope you like it as much as I did, and that by the end you just feel a little sad because the series is over.
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