Long before Barack Obama had dreams of the White House there was Fela Kuti. Virile…valiant…visionary are only a few of the attributes that describes this legendary performer.  He was born on October 15, 1938 in Abeokuta, Nigeria the son of a preacher and died on August 3, 1997 an icon, a trailblazer and the godfather of Afrobeat.  One million people attended his funeral in Nigeria, the mark of a true statesman. Fela was not only voice of Africa, his lyrics spoke to all citizens who are not represented by the government of the country they reside in.  He was a warrior wordsmith and his records were spears thrown with precise aim at bureaucrats bound to keeping the common people oppressed by using selfish ideology.  Even after his death his incredible body of work, almost 70 albums, is still in demand all over the world. 

This month several celebrations for Fela’s birthday will be conducted around the world.  On the night that would have been Fela’s 71^st birthday, I ventured out into the cold, rainy night to S.O.B’s to attend FELABRATION.  FELABRATION was collaboration of several creative entities including Manchildblack, DJ Rich Medina, DJ Ian Friday, FELA! The Musical, and others to pay homage to this musical

The event itself felt more like a mission fulfilled than a mere party.  Everyone in attendance felt compelled to be there – compelled to keep Fela’s legacy alive.  “It was very important for me to be a part of this night as a DJ and a producer because Fela is such an important influence on my career,” Ian Friday reveals as the night drew to a close.   “He is at the root of what I call global soul, music with purpose, a message that you can dance to and it’s all from the motherland.” 

Recording artist Manchildblack hosted the event and called it “a vortex of Fela.” “It was magical,” he says, “I love it when the nights are seamless, and I feel that tonight really was.  You had all these incredible elements coming together to express this man’s music.  So, in a way it’s sort of like what Fela says ‘music is a weapon’, but tonight for Concep, art was his weapon.  For Rich and Ian, spinning was their weapon and for AMS, the dance was their weapon, so all these dynamics came together to honor the black president Fela.”

When Manchildblack was entrusted by FELA! The Musical to create an event to celebrate Fela’s birthday as well as the musical coming to Broadway, he immediately thought of marrying two of NYC’s best underground parties together.  Ian Friday is the resident DJ for Libation and Rich Medina is the creator of Jump ‘N Funk, which helps to preserve Fela’s musical legacy.  When asked about the creation of the Jump ‘N Funk parties, Rich states, “It was a lane that no one seemed to be exploring.  It looked like a white canvas to me and with all the power there is behind music and the almost literal comparison of Fela to James Brown; he is the James Brown of Africa.   And it is such an enormous piece of black power and our history that I felt wasn’t being addressed on a large scale.  Fela is James Brown on steroids.”

Together these two DJs created an unabbreviated doctrine that forced everyone, even those on crutches to hop around.  I can attest that there was not a dry t-shirt or unhappy soul in the house.  For one night Fela was brought back to the last venue he played in the U.S. before his death and it was phenomenal.  Long live the black president.  

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