Fela Kuti - Beasts of No Nation

Fela Kuti & Egypt '80 - Beasts of No Nation

 Knitting Factory/Ada

Originally released in 1989, was an indictment of the corruption and repression in post-colonial Africa. The album title cut addressed a variety of targets, each of them, said Fela, guilty of enslaving Africans: the Nigerian regime, the South African apartheid regime of P.W. Botha, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, America's Ronald Reagan, and the ineffectual United Nations. In addition to being vilified in the lyrics, Botha, Thatcher and Reagan are among the political leaders portrayed as beasts and devils on the front sleeve. Almost two decades after his death, vindication has come to Fela Kuti, Africa's musical genius. AfroBeat, his gift to the world, is now an international staple on his own uncompromising terms, social content intact.