Life of Fela
full name
Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti
Birth date
October 15, 1938
Death date
August 2, 1997
Education
Trinity College of Music
place of birth
Lagos, Nigeria
place of Death
Abeokuta, Nigeria
Musician and political activist Fela Kuti was born on October 15, 1938, in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Kuti was the son of a Protestant minister, Reverend Ransome-Kuti. His mother, Funmilayo, was a political activist. As a child, Kuti learned piano and drums and led his school choir. In the 1950s, Kuti told his parents that he was moving to London, England, to study medicine, but wound up attending the Trinity College of Music instead. While at Trinity, Kuti studied classical music and developed an awareness of American jazz.
If you see me strictly as a musician it's okay. I don't want to say that it is wrong to see me that way. I don't want to say that it is right to see me that way. I want to leave everything to the individual to see me the way they think is right. That's the best way.
Beginning in the 1960s, Fela Kuti pioneered his own unique style of music called "Afrobeat." Kuti sang in a combination of Pidgin English and Yoruba. Rebelling against oppressive regimes through his music came at a heavy cost. Kuti was arrested 200 times and endured numerous beatings, but continued to write political lyrics, producing 50 albums before he died on August 2, 1997, in Lagos, Nigeria.