Disfelasef…
THE book, Disfelasef:thelegend(s)utold (Festac Books, Lagos),is the untold story of the legendary musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. It is a memoir by his friend and manager, Benson Idonije. The author, now 82 years old, is the most credible chronicler of Fela’s sexual escapades and tempestuous career as a musician and man of the world. Idonije was with Fela from the beginning till the end of his career as musician, politician and human rights activist. Fela’s great musical creativity endeared him to Idonije while Benson’s love of music as a producer in Radionigeria cemented their relationship.
Thus, as Fela’s confidant, Idonije became the power behind Fela’s throne. And Fela’s respect and trust for an elder brother gave Idonije access to every facet of Fela’s life. Which is why Disfelasef is so accurate, deep and authoritative. This memoir was published in 2016 by Festac Books and reprinted by Havilah Grand Pearl Limited, Lagos, Nigeria. It has 20 chapters, an epilogue, 284 pages, two pages of bibliography, 13 pages of pictures and the chronology of Fela’s life.
In his introduction, ‘Why this book?’ Idonije answers that there are still more to be known about the legend and misunderstandings to be corrected about Fela’s tumultuous lifestyle and apostasy. As an art critic in The Guardian, Nigeria, for almost 20 years and Fela’s contemporary of barely two years difference, Idonije has written about Fela more than any journalist in Nigeria. His original intention was to assemble those stories and publish them in book form. But his friends urged and assisted him to write a memoir of his friendship and as manager of the Fela Ransome Kuti Quintet from 1963 till 1970. Indeed, as band manager, Idonije was intimately involved and grappled with every activity of Fela’s life and commune. Disfelasef isn’t a biography, nor is it a musical study, especially because not all of Fela’s music is discussed. This is Idonije’s memorial of Fela that offers a new perspective, the story behind the story, with more legends to be told. Though Fela died on August 2, 1997, he is still spoken of in the present tense; he is omnipresent. His first name is deployed to acknowledge the pervasiveness of his influence till date.
Fela’s music is the inspirer of modern hip hop in West Africa. Afrobeat bands are being formed around the world drawing from his overwhelming influence. Musicians and fans lapse into his vocal rasp to make a point. Fela has been celebrated on Broadway Theatre in New York, U.S. Felabration continues to wax stronger and bigger with activities at every yearly edition even as fans and admirers celebrate him with excessive veneration. Fela’s Kalakuta commune has been recreated and turned to a museum for his immortalisation.
In treating the first 10 chapters of this volume, I shall start from the chronology of Fela’s life from 1938 to the time of his death in 1997. From his ancestry, his musical odyssey, redefining highlife music to resurrecting the Koola lobitos and culminating in the making of a new Afrobeat genre after his visit to the United States. It goes without saying that Fela’s pervasive influence is proof of his ingenuity as a musician and man of letters.
In the middle of the 19th century, one Egba gentleman named Kuti, Fela’s great grandfather, fell in love with a princess called Efupeyin. The marriage of these lovers produced a son christened Josiah in 1855. Both were heathens but Efupeyin, Fela’s great grandmother, converted to Christianity. At her baptism in 1848, Efupeyin took the name Anne. In his memoirs, Josiah, Fela’s grandfather wrote: “To her I owe my Christianity today for my father lived and died a heathen.” Kuti was a staunch weaver of cloth and musician. He is the one Fela appeared to be his alter ego and reincarnation. Fela’s grandfather was Josiah Likoye Kuti, while his father was Oludotun Ransome-kuti. His mother, Frances Olufunlayo Ransome-kuti (nee Thomas) was in the forefront of women liberation in Nigeria during the colonial era. She championed female rights to vote and founded the Nigerian Women’s Union. For these achievements, she earned international fame and recognition. Olufunlayo was a great admirer of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the Republic of Ghana and his pan African ideology. Nkrumah also recog- nised her for her political activism.
Idonije witnessed Fela’s mother’s influence on her son’ musical direction, when he testifies thus, “As soon as we arrived, she summoned us to the living room. “Fela
Manager”, she called out. “This music you are playing is good and I know you enjoy it greatly. But you want to consider its cultural relevance and commercial viability. Fela, I want you to go back to the Highlife you started with in London. That’s where your future is”.
“Fela and I looked at each other in dismay, our expressions indicating that she did not understand what we were doing; but on reflection, the message had a lot of weight. It made a lot of sense. We both went silent for minutes. We had nothing to say. This encounter with mum marked a turning point in Fela’s musical career. Even though he was not quite convinced, there were two reasons why Fela immediately accepted to comply with Mrs. Ransome-kuti’s advice, which in fact sounded like a divinely-inspired instruction that must be obeyed.
“Fela respected his mother’s views and saw her voice as that of reason, loaded with spiritual guidance, a voice that must be obeyed. Secondly, Fela was now an accomplished jazz musician and would not play highlife like the others. He would play it as a jazz musician – from a more musically elevated standpoint. He saw it as an avenue for creating Nigerian and African Jazz themes for improvisation.”
Mrs. Kuti was so courageous that her organisation, the Nigerian Women’s Union, chased the Alake of Egbaland out of his palace into exile in Osogbo for daring to levy tax on women. For so doing, she became a heroine of Nigerian politics. Through Mrs. Kuti Nigerian women achieved universal suffrage by being exempted from paying tax and allowed to vote and be voted for by 1959. She founded the Nigerian Women’s Union in 1949.
Of Funlayo’s children, Dolapo, the eldest, a female, chose the nursing profession. She excelled there, retiring from the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital as a matron in 1974. Next in line was Dr. Olikoye Ransome-kuti. He was professor of Pediatrics at the Lagos University Hospital. He was