Celebrating the life and music of Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Giant Step has organized official Felabration events in more than 15 cities across North America throughout the month of October; these performances in tribute will bring together some of the best DJs, musicians, and promoters around to celebrate the life, music, and birthday of Fela Anikulapo Kuti (October 15, 1938 - August 2, 1997). These events will unite the diverse communities and Tastemakers across the country that are instrumental in keeping Fela’s music alive.

The original Felabrations date back to the early 1970s when Fela and his band took over the courtyard of the Empire Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, and performed several nights a week to thousands of worshipping fans. “The Shrine,” as the courtyard came to be known, became a very popular nightspot and the audience was made up of everyone from the youths of Lagos to professors, civil servants, government officials and even soldiers. And of course, the Shrine was a center for much more than music. To quote Michael E. Veal in his book, Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon, “more than a mere entertainment club, Fela considered it an actual shrine to his ideological heroes - a space in which his political inclinations fused with musical incantations to assume spiritual dimensions.”

Now, Felabration is an annual festival dedicated to the promotion of Afrobeat and African culture and to the preservation of Fela’s legend and artistry. Fela would have been 71 on October 15.

Beginning on October 27th, the CD and CD-Deluxe with DVD release of the compilation The Best Of The Black President will be available. In addition, the musical FELA! will begin previews at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on Broadway on October 19th.