''The Best Best of Fela Kuti'' is a 2-CD compilation album by Nigerian

Afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...

artist

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...

, released in 1999 by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. It was issued in the United States in 2000 as part of a

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

series of Kuti's albums. The album was reissued as ''The Best of the Black President'' in 2009 by

Knitting Factory Records Knitting Factory Records is an independent American music label that is notable for promoting a variety of artists, including the music of deceased Nigerian political activist Fela Kuti. The label promotes a variety of music artists including ...

and received universal acclaim from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. A companion 2-CD compilation, also released in 1999, was reissued in the U.S. in 2013 by Knitting Factory as ''The Best of the Black President 2''.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

said that ''The Best Best of Fela Kuti'' is the essential album from Kuti and "a masterful piece of compilation for an artist who deserves the best." He applauded the decision to edit or "unceremoniously" reduce the exhaustive lengths of the original songs in half, adding that they feature "top-notch tirades, explosive horn blasts", and riffs Kuti could "never improve no matter how often he

ried __NOTOC__ Ried may refer to: Places Alsace * Ried (natural region) Austria *Ried in der Riedmark, a market town in Upper Austria *Ried im Innkreis, a city in Upper Austria and the surrounding Bezirk Ried im Innkreis *Ried im Oberinntal, a village ...

. Christgau named it the fifth best album of 2000 in his list for the

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

critics' poll. ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' magazine's Harry Allen said that it has Kuti's "finest work". In 2005, ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine ranked ''The Best Best of Fela Kuti'' the fourth best world music album of all time. The album's 2009 reissue by

received universal acclaim from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 93, based on 5 reviews.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Thom Jurek recommended the album even for listeners who own all of Kuti's previous music: "this is a killer mix and needs to be in the collection anyway." Michaelangelo Matos of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' credited it for doing "the impossible by summing up a singular performer who liked his songs to jam on out to a half-hour or more. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' critic Mike Powell wrote that, although it does not have "''all'' of Fela's best material", the album "isn't just a good place for someone starting out, it's probably the only Fela album many will need to own." In a less enthusiastic review, Will Hermes of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine said that the music is "killer", but criticized the lack of recording info in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

: "The music speaks for itself, but presidential history deserves better."

Track listing

Personnel

''Credits (such as they are) for the album are adapted from

.'' *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Adrian Morgan – remastering

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Best Best of Fela Kuti, The 1999 compilation albums Afrobeat albums Barclay (record label) albums Fela Kuti albums Knitting Factory Records albums MCA Records compilation albums Wrasse Records compilation albums

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

References

Further reading

External links