The Cosmopolitan Nativist: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Antinomies of Postcolonial Modernity

Ọláníyan, Tejúmólá

doi:10.2979/ral.2001.32.2.76

Cited by 27 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In addition, like many of their Jamaican and American counterparts, Nigerian popular singers have often trafficked in images of glamorous hedonism and hypermasculine sexuality. Eedris Abdulkareem's indignation over 50 Cent's visit to Nigeria exemplifies the commercial self‐promotion of celebrity culture, while songs like Two Legs Up honor Fela's dubious talent for making “sexist language extremely musically pleasurable” (Olaniyan 2001:77). For Nigerian popular music fans, as for fans of other popular music genres, critically engaging the global political economy—and global Blackness—via a creole or other stigmatized language variety may promote one kind of cultural resistance while engendering other hegemonies.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Blackness of “Broken English”

Gaudio

2011

Journal of Linguistic Anthropology

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Inspired by Jane Hill's analyses of the racial and national implications of Mock Spanish and other forms of linguistic appropriation, this paper analyzes the use and nonuse of Nigerian Pidgin (NP) by Nigerian popular singers. Their performances combine elements of coastal west African musical styles with hip hop and/or reggae, and their lyrics variably juxtapose NP and various Nigerian languages with African American English and occasionally Jamaican Creole. By aligning Nigerians' cultural and political experiences with those of African Americans and Jamaicans—whose languages have also been stigmatized as “broken English”—these artists engage a Black Atlantic cultural tradition while simultaneously indexing a distinctly Nigerian public within that imagined transnational space. The formation of this public is complicated, however, by (among other things) the fact that Hausa‐speaking Muslims from northern Nigeria are less likely than other Nigerians to use and affiliate with NP. [Nigeria, creole, nation, music, race]

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Abdulkareem's heterosexual boasting provides a second point of comparison with Fela, for in addition to criticizing Nigeria's elites, Fela was a notorious womanizer (Olaniyan 2001). Segarin Kano may be relatively tame in this regard, but other performances by Abdulkareem are more graphic.…”

Section: Nigerian Pidgin (And Its Absence) In Northern Nigerian Populmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Blackness of “Broken English”

Gaudio

2011

Journal of Linguistic Anthropology

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“…[3] Orlando Owoh (Owomoyela). [4] Kayode Fashola and Ogundare Foyanmu on social and ethics while Fla Kuti concentrate on justice and politics, (Kuti;Olaniyan, 2001). [5] Fla Anikulapo Kuti is a well-known Yorùbá artist, a humanist and a musician who often confronts exploitation, injustice, and other forms of maladministration in politics and religion in Nigeria and across Africa and globally.…”

Section: Linguistic Heritage: Music and Storytellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture (Yorùbá) as a Means of De-Escalating Conflict and Maintaining Peace

Olayinka¹

2021

Preprint

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Most works in peace and conflict studies concern interventions in conflict situations – such as conflict management – or projects seeking to sustain peace after a conflict, such as conflict resolution, conflict transformation, and peace education. However, using a peace lens, this study affirms culture as one of the means the Yorùbá utilize to sustain peace in their community. The paper first ascertains the presence of conflict and proceed to discuss how some features of Yorùbá culture facilitate harmony as evidenced in the research findings. Note: This article is based on a primary research among the Yorùbá of southwest Nigeria within 2015 to 2020, the bulk of which is taken from chapter 5 of the dissertation. A few amendments were made to suit the requirement of this journal publication.

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“…Born as Fela Ransome-Kuti, this maverick Nigerian musician made some fundamental changes early in his professional life: (a) Changing his last name to Anikulapo-Kuti, which translates to he who carries death in his pouch, therefore cannot die, and describing "Ransome" as a remnant of British colonialism that was meaningless in his ethnic Yoruba language (Caroll 2013;Olaniyan 2001); (b) abandoning jazz and classical music he learned at the Trinity School of Music in England for Afrobeat music that had a heavy African undertone (Labinjo 1982); (c) renaming his band from Fela and the Koola Lobitos to Fela and the Egypt '80 (Dosunmu 2010), to reiterate the African foundation of his art; and (d) jettisoning English language and singing in pidgin English, a localized version of English language, thus identifying with and reaching a vast population of ordinary folk in Nigeria and even beyond in West Africa (Veal 2000).…”

Section: Fela Anikulapo-kutimentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Messages in African Music: Assessing Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Lucky Dube and Alpha Blondy

Onyebadi

2018

Humanities

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Political communication inquiry principally investigates institutions such as governments and congress, and processes such as elections and political advertising. This study takes a largely unexplored route: An assessment of political messages embedded in music, with a focus on the artistic works of three male African music icons—Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (Nigeria), Lucky Dube (South Africa), and Alpha Blondy (Côte d’Ivoire). Methodologically, a purposive sample of the lyrics of songs by the musicians was textually analyzed to identify the themes and nuances in their political messaging. Framing was the theoretical underpinning. This study determined that all three musicians were vocal against corruption, citizen marginalization, and a cessation of wars and bloodshed in the continent.

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The Cosmopolitan Nativist: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Antinomies of Postcolonial Modernity

Cited by 27 publications

References 4 publications

The Blackness of “Broken English”

The Blackness of “Broken English”

Culture (Yorùbá) as a Means of De-Escalating Conflict and Maintaining Peace

Political Messages in African Music: Assessing Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Lucky Dube and Alpha Blondy

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