Arrest The Music!: Fela and His Rebel Art and Politics (African Expressive Cultures)

More than a biography about Africa's most controversial and celebrated musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Olaniyan's book is an anatomy of the way music, rebellion, and political activism can intertwine so tightly that none may be considered on its own.

"Olaniyan has given us a profound and beautifully integrated book which culminates in a persuasive interpretation of the relationship between Fela's apparently incompatible presentational selves.... The book's accessible and evocative prose is in itself a kind of homage to Fela's continual ability to seduce and astonish.... This is such an attractive book you feel like... ransacking your collection for Fela tapes." -- Karin Barber

"... an indispensable companion to Fela's music and a rich source of information for studies in modern African popular music." -- Akin Euba

Arrest the Music! is a lively musical study of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, one of Africa's most recognizable, popular, and controversial musicians. The flamboyant originator of the "Afrobeat" sound and self-proclaimed voice of the voiceless, Fela used music, sharp-tongued lyrics, and derisive humor to challenge the shortcomings of Nigerian and postcolonial African states. Looking at the social context, instrumentation, lyrics, visual art, people, and organizations through which Fela produced his music, Tejumola Olaniyan offers a wider, more suggestive perspective on Fela and his impact on listeners in all parts of the world.

Placing Fela front and center, Olaniyan underscores important social issues such as authenticity, racial and cultural identity, the relationship of popular culture to radical politics, and the meaning of postcolonialism, nationalism, and globalism in contemporary Africa. Readers interested in music, culture, society, and politics, whether or not they know Fela and his music, will find this work invaluable for understanding the career of an African superstar and the politics of popular culture in contemporary Africa.

African Expressive Cultures -- Patrick McNaughton, general editor

cover......Page 1 toc ......Page 8 acknowledgments......Page 10 1 Introduction "Living In The Interregnum": Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Postcolonial Incredible......Page 14 2 The “Apolitical” Avant-Pop Hustler......Page 20 3 The Afrobeat Moralist......Page 37 4 Dissident Tunes: The Political Afrobeat......Page 63 5 Fela, Lagos, and the Postcolonial State......Page 100 6 On the Shop Floor: The Social Production of Afrobeat......Page 121 7 Pedagogue, Pedagogy, and the Pedagogic Form......Page 158 8 The Cosmopolitan Nativist: Fela and the Antinomies of Postcolonial Modernity......Page 170 9 The Political, the Libidinal ......Page 179 10 Conclusion: Afrobeat after Fela......Page 188 Notes......Page 204 Bibliography......Page 232 Discography......Page 242 General Index......Page 246 Song Index......Page 254 Introduction : Living In The Interregnum : Fela Anikulapo-kuti And The Postcolonial Incredible -- The Apolitical Avant-pop Hustler -- The Afrobeat Moralist -- Dissident Tunes : The Political Afrobeat -- Fela, Lagos, And The Postcolonial State -- On The Shop Floor : The Social Production Of Afrobeat -- Pedagogue, Pedagogy, And The Pedagogic Form -- The Cosmopolitan Nativist : Fela And The Antinomies Of Postcolonial Modernity -- The Political, The Libidinal -- Conclusion : Afrobeat After Fela. Tejumola Olaniyan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [219]-228) And Indexes. Discography: P. [229]-232. The scene has stuck in my mind for over two decades now, but I can no longer remember whether I actually saw it or imagined it.