ALBUM REVIEW OF "ONE PEOPLE ONE WORLD" BY FEMI KUTI

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

Femi Kuti is the oldest son of the Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. Femi was born on the 16th of June, 1962 in London but was raised in Lagos, Nigeria. A simple google search would do for a more detailed biography of Femi Kuti.

If this is your first time of hearing about Femi Kuti, you may wrongly assume him to possess the same ruggedity as his father Fela, but you will be disappointed to find out that Femi is a different kind of person from his father, even though some of his music has some very strong political themes. In a recent reply to a follower’s tweet on twitter, Femi made it clear that he doesn't smoke and also stressed in a subsequent tweet how much he had wanted not to be his father and how much he wanted to be himself. Femi still performs every Sunday at the new Africa Shrine at Ikeja, Lagos and some days he performs straight for upto or more than six hours, despite his age. He is such an energetic performer.

Femi’s first record was released in the year 1995 (the year I was born), but even some six months ago I wasn't still very interested in Femi’s music until recently when he dropped his tenth studio album “ONE PEOPLE ONE WORLD” which I am going to try to review each track of the album in this article.

THE ALBUM

Just by listening to the first two bars of all the twelve tracks on the album except for the fifth track, How Many which starts like a gyration sort of, an ardent Afrobeat listener will easily tell that these are Afrobeat tracks. And also scheming through the titles of all the twelve tracks on this album, you can easily tell (if you have a rather fair grasp or understanding of the Nigerian pidgin which happens to be the official language of the Afrobeat genre. Lol) that this album is centred on two themes which are social and political. Track 4,9,10 and 11 needs not to be listened to before it can be identified as political as the titles already label it so. The title and the first few bars of the second track suggests that this particular track tackles societal issues like religion, fear of the unknown and general sense of what is right and wrong. One interesting thing I'll love to comment about this album is the audio quality of all the tracks, the balance, blend and levelling of the audio threshold to make the tracks sound collectively nice as an album. The creative application of the reverb effect on the horns section and the modulation of the lead guitar sound which is not typical to other Afrobeat sounds just makes this album and the general sound of the Femi Kuti kind of Afrobeat music more lively and different.

Also the diction of each track in this album allows all ages and sexes to sing along comfortably as there are no explicit lines in any of the songs. I would give a 4.5 star to the album for its liveness as the tempo of most of the tracks just makes it slow enough to relax you and just fast enough to make you vibe along to the groove.

Track 1: Africa Will Be Great Again

This track Starts with the bass guitar ostinating a musical phrase of about four or five notes (a very typical Afrobeat bass technique), the lead and tenor guitars join with a complementing groove, then the organ and finally the horns take dominance of the whole song. The one very outstanding thing about the horn section is the antiphonal (call and response) game played by the horns and the organ. The organ is responding to some phrases played by the horns. A listener who had not seen the title of this track could assume it to be “Can You Believe?”, as Femi uses this phrase to remind listeners of the once economically buoyant Nigeria. Femi throws a question at listeners asking if they can believe that there was a time 1 naira was equivalent to 2 USD (I am trying to imagine), Kuti further illustrates that by saying that a thousand naira was enough to make a man feel like a king in those days. This forces me to take my mind to a beggar who sits at my university gate, I see him most times with few thousand naira notes and I don't know if that makes him feel like a king in any way. In this track Femi also talks about the unjust imprisonment of his late father because of his outspokenness towards the injustices and fund misappropriation of the Nigerian political leaders. The chorus (Africa Will Be Great Again) is not taken as a typical chorus but as a chant rather, with the back up vocalists responding to Femi’s chants which happens to be stating the conditions for Africa's rise from ruins. The structure of this particular track is a very simple one as it goes from intro - verse - chorus - chorus (outro). This song is a one verse song and it lasts for only 4 min 47 secs. A perfect song for both radio and television.

Track 2: Best To Live on the Good Side

This is one of the most unique and outstanding tracks in the album. The most beautiful thing about the musical arrangement and mix of this song is its ability to allow every part or section of the song to stand out clearly and independently on its own without being overwhelmed by another part or section. The song starts with a steady groove from the bass guitar, then Femi Kuti interrupts with his high pitched vocal and then rests for the guitar section to make its own musical statement with the snare drum coming in at certain intervals before giving way to the organ and finally the horn section taking dominance as usual. But this time playing the antiphonal game with just itself (the upper voices of the horns plays a call and the lower sounding horns respond). In this track Femi concentrates on social but not the usual political issues. He warns against taking life for a gamble and further stretches the need for a humble lifestyle. The beautiful thing about the ending of this song is the abrupt halt of the bass guitar ostinating groove and other instruments giving way to just Femi’s vocal, the organ, hi hat and cymbals thus creating a partial homophonic texture (not really homophonic). This track is a bit long for radio (but can still be played) as it lasts for 5 min 16 secs.

Track 3: One People One World

I would take this track to be my best in the album. There is something about this particular song that just makes it stand out in the album and in the Afrobeat world. Maybe it is the reggae feel it has or maybe it is the wide stereo effect added to the backup vocals. A not very usual thing was done on this track and that is the lead guitar solo. Ardent Afrobeat listeners would agree that guitar solos are not very common in Afrobeat music but instead the horns usually take the solos. In this particular song, Femi preaches the need for peace, justice and love. The tempo, liveliness and general feel of this song just makes it danceable even on a reggae dancefloor. This is the One People One World official video.

Track 4: Na Their Way Be That

This track has both social and political themes as Femi talks about people with a politically corrupt mindset and also talks about negativity-filled individuals and their unrepentant nature. Femi manages to drop this messages in just one verse as this is a one verse song with very simple lyrics and structure. This is the first track in the album with the typical Afrobeat horn (saxophone) solo.

Track 5: How Many?
This is the only track in the One People One World album that you can gyrate to and I honestly won't label this vibe a “peaceful” one as even the groove suggests otherwise. This particular song is really stimulating and I won't advice you listen to this first thing in the morning. The track itself is carefully positioned in the middle of the album. Nice jam with really strong West African rhythm. I love it and it is political.

Track 6: Evil People

Fast tempo and really stimulating vibe too with a very strong social theme, strong enough to provoke or infuriate depending on the context it is being used. I believe this is the climax point of the album. In this particular song Femi uses a sort of overdrive vocal technique in the chorus as you hear that his voice is partially strained in the chorus section and some parts of the verse. His strained voice only adds extra fire and passion to this track. At a point it sounds as if Femi is crying and it is just beautiful. This particular song creates an image of two Nigerian women engaging in a fierce quarrel in my head, and one just gets so passionate and breaks down in tears while still engaging in the quarrel. Lol. You can also listen to how it makes you feel.

Track 7: Equal Opportunity

Very simple as Femi wastes no time by going straight to the point and stating that we want equal opportunity for everyone. The vocal technique used in this one is rather mellow and calm. Calm enough to send the message of the song to your bones.

Track 8: E Get As E Be

The phrase “e get as e be” is a popular Nigerian pidgin English phrase mostly used to describe tough and hard situations or conditions. For example, you may come across a Nigerian saying “life get as e be for this country o” or “e get as e be for this country” which in this context translates to “life is hard in this country”. Femi laments about the situation in countries like Syria, Libya (after Gaddafi), Tunisia (after the revolution), Egypt, Congo and Nigeria. A careful listen to the melodies played by the horn section in this song will show that the horn melodies of this particular song are very lyrical and are thus making very strong musical statements that only the soul will understand (maybe that is why the horns have taken a much greater portion of this song).

Track 9: Corruption Na Stealing

Femi’s approach to this track is just so unique. I will assume the tonal center was not very suitable for the proper use of his chest voice as he doubles his vocals on this track. Femi falsetts and then backs his falsetto up with his low register thereby giving his vocals a very unique chorus effect. Overdubbing couldn't have been more beautiful.

Track 10: Dem Don Come Again

The Nigerian pidgin English phrase “dem don come again” translates to “they have come again” in the English language. In this piece, Femi Kuti tackles hypocrisy in religion with this line which also serves as the chorus of the song, “they use religion and the word of God to do their bad bad things”.

Track 11: Dem Militarize Democracy

A very simple song that highlights a very major political problem in Nigeria which is militarisation of democracy. It is a known fact that almost all the democratic rulers in Nigeria were once in the military and were also military rulers during the military regime. This is also the only song in the album that Femi mentions people by name (including the sitting president of Nigeria). Very unlike his father. Another thing to take note of in this song and some other songs in the album is the choice of words and language. Normal day to day language and words are used and not poetic sort of words. The lyric of the Afrobeat genre of music is usually written in such a way that everybody irrespective of whatever differences, be it educational background, social status, age or sex understands, identifies with it.

Track 12: The Way Our Lives Go

This track has elements of Jazz, Soul, Blues and Reggae music. This is a song that reaffirms hope, the tempo is just a perfect fit for the theme. There couldn't have been a better way to end such an album. The title really summarises the informations Femi was trying to pass along to the listeners which I assume is all about “The Way Our Lives Go” in this part of the world (maybe).

“One People One World” is one album I would strongly recommend you check out this year. You don't have to be a super fan of Afrobeat or African music before you can really enjoy this album as this album is filled with elements from other forms of music which you may also find exciting. Below is a multi link that you can use to stream or purchase the songs on any of your favourite platforms.

https://songwhip.com/album/femi-kuti/one-people-one-world

Thanks for reading this far, hope you enjoyed the music.

Lastly, thank you @carlgnash and @curie for featuring me in the latest Author Showcase Post. I'm grateful for the encouragement 😊