Femi Kuti

Expected nothing, got everything. Awesome fucking record.

It's not an album you could put on any time, any day. But at the right time this is awesome. For me that was making breakfast on a Sunday morning and this had me bouncing around the kitchen.

I didn't even notice the songs were 9 minutes long because I was having so much fun

When you're the son of one of the most revolutionary musicians of the second half of the 20th Century, it's best to be aware of the massive sized shoes that would hopefully be filled but Femi Kuti's self-titled does all that and then some. Bringing, and refining, his father's penchant for lengthy jams about societal and personal issues into the 90s (atrocious album cover aside), this over an hour long collection gives the listener an understanding of who Femi is and what he could be capable of, regardless of the knowledge of who preceded him. The songs may be long but the grooves are undeniable and the pedigree beyond worthwhile.

Not going to lie, this slaps. Fantastic, really fun, amazing

hard, if not impossible, to compare his work to his father's. his shadow looms large but this is still worth a listen! fav track: changes

Think if Earth, Wind and Fire were from Nigeria. A great jazz-funk album all around. Lots of fun, infectious grooves, and top talent to boot. Who knew listening to a sax-led band could be so much fun?

Nothing else I can say other than this album will exceed every expectation you may or may not have

Not generally a world music fan, but the debut album by Femi Kuti is an absolute monster. A tour de force os musicianship, with Femi’s voice and sax playing leading the way. The call and response at the end of “Frustrations” between Femi’s sax and the percussion is a highlight. Loved it all the way through!

Funky, groovy Jazz. Hooks you in with the first couple of beats and doesn't let go!

Femi Kuti is a groovy, funky, lovely to listen self-titled album. Energetic, a bit on one-note, a bit long, but I didn't feel bored. And you know, some problems really do be stubborn problems. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, and I'd find it hard to compare about my favourites, but I think it's very, very solid record.

great album with great sounds. The tunes slap hard. solid 9/10

At first it just made me want to listen to Fela. But after a bit I really got into it.

Clearly talented but totally not my thing

Quite an excellent record, though I will say it was very difficult not to compare his music to that of his father. Like they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The DNA of Fela Kuti’s music is here, but Femi manages to differentiate himself enough with a broader view and incorporation of different musical styles. It’s more polished, chilled and maybe a more accessible sound, where Fela’s records were more stripped back, aggressive and carrying a palpable sense of righteous anger.

Interesting, very African sounding, fun, different genre to the rest of the albums really

So funky and groovy. The music is uplifting and danceable while the lyrics are political. Very glad to be introduced to this artist. Favorite tracks: Frustrations, Plenty Nonsense, Live for Today

Refreshing album that I’ve always wondered about. It would be beautiful to see him at a festival. Not sure I’d ever choose this album again but I appreciated nonetheless

More Kuti is just what I needed.

The apple falls not far from the tree. It's a powerful groove that I could happily listen to all day. No notes.

This album is really cool! I it's full of cool rhythms and groovy sax. It also feels like experiencing a new culture through the music alone. The song, Frustration, makes me feel like I am playing as Knuckles in Sonic Adventure 2 haha. Favorite track: Frustration and Survival

Wow, this is fantastic! Superb performances, so expressive, and such a nice blend of styles and ideas. I'll bet it's great to see him play live.

I have already listened to Fela Kuti, so this is not a revelation. Still, Femi is good, the compositions are interesting. This is softer and more melodic than Fela, though I feel like Femi is not as good of a singer. Seems like this includes some additional electronic elements. Like the other Afrobeat I've listened to, the tracks get overlong and repetitive if you listen to enough of them.

Femi Kuti This very much feels like 10 tracks stretched over 73 minutes, the length and similarity of each track kind of merging into one long track, even if it always sounds nice. But it hasn’t really grabbed me in the way other albums adjacent to this have. Partially that’s due to the length of each track and how little the sound varies, but I think it’s also to do with how busy it all is. There’s a lot going on, and the jazzy sax and horns in particular don’t quite do it for me, edging it from exuberant and fun into slightly too much. It feels like it could do with a couple of sparser tracks or passages or moments to create a bit more light and shade and allow some of the instruments and songs to breathe a little. Still it’s a pleasant enough album, 3. 📯📯📯 Playlist submission: Wonder Wonder

Groovy and "infectious" but I think my immune system kicked in after a while? I got thoroughly bored halfways through. Also, there are now three albums by The Kutis, in a pool of just nine albums filed under "𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥" (out of 461, so far): an awfully narrow look at the world's and then a whole continent's music. Not feeling this today.

Vibes. At first glance, I had thought this was going to be a Fela Kuti album (who also has some banging music), but was pleasantly surprised to find someone new in the genre. The orchestration is superb and I found myself getting quite pumped up as I listened to it during a workout. I'm a sucker for some saxophone and he can really rip. There is enough genre bending across the album to hold your attention and he does so without losing the core sound. Overall, a great time but I don't know how often I would go looking for it to listen. Stand out track: Survival

No. Just. No.

Nando’s bathroom music but in the best way. Made me sad I’ve not got a drink machine in my house. Great vibes - no complaints for any of the 8 min songs. Specific rating-4.5 Fav song- wonder wonder Least fav- plenty nonsense

Based on the albums I've listened to so far, I like this guy's music more than his father's.... WAY more! I loved every second of this album, and was enjoying a wild private party in my headphones while listening to it. Great sax playing and the playful tunes perfectly offset the seriousness of some of the political messages in the songs. I'm adding this to my Tidal library and giving it five stars.

The groove is absolutely infectious, and the social commentary is a righteously angry cherry on top. Femi manages to distance himself effectively from his father’s legacy; the influence is still clearly there but Femi’s music seems more structured, less improvisational. But what’s important for both is that this is just good damn music

This sounds like a mix of jazz and my local brass band. Loved it

Wow - what. surprising find. New to me on all levels, and it really jams! Some of these (i.e. Nawa) have instrumental segments that been used as background of room mid 70's cop movies. I can see Dirty Harry chasing down a thug in 70's SF...Not bad at all!

Album is 27 minutes to long problems.

Way better than Julian Lennon and not as good as Sean Lennon. Not bad by any means but just made me want to play a Fela Kuti record.

Interesting. Clearly solid music. But not for me really

Wonder Wonder - 7.5/10 Survival- 7.5/10 Frustrations - 8/10 Nawa - intro - 7.5/10 Nawa - 8/10 Plenty Nonsense - 8/10 Stubbor problems - 7.5/10 No Shame - 8/10 Live for Today - 8/10 Changes - 8/10 TOTAL - 78/100

Me gusta la "world music" como los gringos tarados suelen llamar a todo lo que no hacen ellos.

I liked the Fela Kuti album better by his dad I think. This one was ok but got a bit repetitive

Lekkere opener! En sowieso weer erg fijn om een album te krijgen dat, ten minste in eerste instantie, van buiten de Westerse wereld komt. Ik begrijp de insteek van de schrijvers en ze kunnen er ook niet super veel aan doen, maar als er dan een keer wat anders voorbij komt, word ik daar vaak wel gelukkig van! Helemaal als het meer in de jazzy richting gaat, de Afrikaanse melodieën zijn vaak interessant en compleet anders dan de westerse maten die gebruikt worden. De nummers duren lang, maar er gebeurt zo ontzettend veel dat ik me eigenlijk geen seconde verveel. Er word gezongen met een urgentie dat ik het jammer vind dat ik de taal niet begrijp en daarnaast zit alles gewoon ijzersterk in elkaar. Het swingt, het gaat snel en ondanks dat je vaak de Call and answer hebt die je vaker in Afrikaanse muziek/jazz hebt zorgt de muziek er verder voor dat het interessant en spannend blijft. De instrumentale solo's? Wát een stukken zijn dat, elke keer dat je denkt dat ze alles er uit hebben gehaald gaan ze nóg een tempootje omhoog, of word de solo nog langer doorgetrokken. Ik kende de artiest niet, maar ik weet wel dat ik hier meer naar ga luisteren en ga opzoeken. Het is bijna onmogelijk om stil te blijven zitten bij dit album, wát een heerlijke ontdekking is dit. En na deze lofzang? Dan is er eigenlijk maar 1 beoordeling passend. Dit was ruim een uur puur genieten, een absolute must-listen en wat ben ik blij dat mijn muziek kennis weer een beetje verbreed is. FAVO: Wonder wonder, Frustration, Nawa, Plenty Nonsense, No Shame, Changes

Vibrant and passionate, absolutely pulsing with soul

Muy bueno. Para mí es genial descubrir música nueva y más aun africana. El disco genial y aun mejor lo que fue derivando, ahora mismo suena Afrocubism - Jarabi.

This slaps, to be sure. Those horns are hot. Trumpet solo on "Plenty Nonsense" is on fire. Makes me want to get up and dance. And I hate dancing.

love it! african vibes and the sax as the leading instrument is a legendary combo

When to listen: Meal prepping dinner - which is when I listened to it. Loved the energy, this is a fun album!

Unbelievable grooves and political activism. Sign me up!

A very well deserved 5.

umas músicas me lembram muito de talking heads, n ficaria surpresa se eles tivessem esse álbum como influência

This is one of the ones I've never heard of before going into this, but I absolutely loved this album. I'd probably say Nawa, Plenty Nonsense, No Shame, and Live For Today were my favorites, but you could put any of these on, and they're going to be an absolute banger. Maybe the only downside is that half the songs are 8+ minutes long, so it's not really a "pick up on a whim" sort of album. Also not sure why there's a 30 second song

Awesome, soulful, funky, enjoyable album. More like this, please! Favorites: Wonder Wonder, Survival, Frustrations, Plenty Nonsense

This kind of blew me away

FIRE

Incredible album. So much variety between the different tracks, but each track itself is a slowly unfolding epic that adds more and more layers as it goes along. Also, great bass tone. 4.5/5.0: Excellent

Ik dacht deze artiest al twee maal gehad te hebben, maar was blij verrast dat het deze keer wat gelikter klinkt. Internet leert me dat het iemand anders is. Het betreft vader (Fela Kuti) en zoon (Femi Kuti). Ik lees dat beide stevige boodschappen willen overbrengen. Die versta ik niet, dus ik moet het bij de muziek laten. En dat kan bij dit album prima! Vader bracht muzikale vrolijkheid, maar het was niet altijd even sterk uitgevoerd. Wellicht was de boodschap voor hem belangrijker? Zoon lijkt het om te draaien. De muziek wordt voorop gezet. Er staan flinke fijne instrumentale delen op het album. Vader was al wat westerser, zoon pakt dat op en versterkt dat. Zonder de Afrikaanse zang en trommels zou dit makkelijk onder jazz geschaard kunnen worden. Met name de toeters voelen jazzy aan. Ik lees dat Femi oorspronkelijk sax speelde. Dat verklaart wellicht ook zijn nadruk op de muziek en de langere instrumentale delen. Plenty Nonsense is het meest exemplarisch voor het album. Het begint met een Afrikaans ritme. Om snel naar een jazzy gevoel over te stappen. Tot de zang ons weer mee terug neemt naar Afrika. Het toont dat Femi zijn nummers met alle aandacht opbouwt. Na bijna 1000 albums ben ik toch verrast weer een echte toevoeging aan de lijst tegen te komen. Dit verdient de volle 5 sterren!

Oh hell yeah, this is some funky jazz that is awesome

I know Fela Kuti, but had never heard his son until today. It’s probably not fair to compare them, even if it’s probably as inevitable given that they’re both Afrobeat musicians. And that they’re also both excellent. This is a great listen, with so much energy and rhythm that it easily carries the rather long songs. It brightens up an otherwise dreary day. I wish we had far more of this on here instead of the endless 70s guitar rock albums. Terrible cover artwork though.

Such a fun album! Great African contemporary jazz - upbeat and engaging all the way through, with great variety.

Got high to finish Nabokov’s Lolita and put this album on. After I finished the book I realized this album was pretty kick ass. It’s albums like this that make me so happy I’m taking the 1001 albums journey. 5/5. Getting this on vinyl

This is the son of Fela Kuti, who I just love. Got to give him 5 stars as well.

A perfect album. So much energy and power captured on a single record. Truly a must listen for any music enthusiast. I loved the vocals and lyrics so much too. So evocative. My Head didn't stop bobbing from start to finish. Did become a bit of a drag halfway through but I think that was just me generally being tired lmao. Other than that, absolutely amazing. 5/5

I'm not yet familiar with his father's work, but this was an easy listen. Jazzy, groovy and with long songs that never overstayed their welcome.

Masterpiece, amazing melodies and great rhythm!

271/1001 Femi Kuti - s/t Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ It's an hour and 16, but it didn't feel like that. So much going on and if you like Fela's work, this will do the trick as well.

Great!! Something I absolutely don't listen to but was amazing. 4.7

This might be even better than his father's work. Feels like the groove is even more dance-able while the Political statements are more upfront as well. Very energetic and upbeat, it really is just more of a great genre. Can’t wait to see him live in a few weeks.

Brilliant, first listen too!

Never know what to expect from International artists. The ones on this list have all been surprisingly good, especially Femi. Full on band that jams with horns. Id listen anytime.

This album is a vibe. Just great fun and sax times. Easy 5*

I hesitate to describe this as jam but this hits a lot of notes for me that jam bands do. I loved it the whole time, just full of infectious grooves the whole album.

2026.02.22

Jazzy, loved the horns & varied songs throughout album

Love of Afro beats

Really loved this will go back!!

Absolutely amazing, just like his dad. Once this project ends I'm doing a deep dive. Their music and their discovery has been a high point of this project for me. Still, not quite as good as his dad. 9/10

Top 10 best albums oh my god this was so good and not a genre i have ever explored before. i’m so grateful to have been recommended this to me during black history month!!!!

Any Kuti is good Kuti

This was unexpected, but amazing. The songs are long but I didn't really care.

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The first good album this app has given me

They know how it's done down in Nigeria bro, some of the best jazz I've ever heard

I wasn’t familiar with this before, but it was pure musical pleasure.

I was really having fun vibing to this

Heck yeah! Solid album. Between Fela and Femi this is the 3rd kick ass album from the Kuti's. They are easily one of the best discoveries from this project. Dig the horns and percussion. I'll revisit this one.

Flawless

Yeah this is dope. I’m guessing there are some Dave Matthews bros who wouldn’t give this album the time of day. Pity. A total blast.

Wasn’t expecting to like it but it’s phenomenal

This is tremendously fun, vibrant music.

Cool and fun. Impossible not to get that toe shooting through your boot.

This album SLAPS!!!

Holy shiiiii that was actually so fun to listen to. Despite being over an hour long, there is genuinely not a single moment that isn't groovy and funky as hell.

very good

Great album, thought the bass lines were awesome. Very fun music

'Wonder, Wonder' has everything you want from afrobeat - dilectable brass hooks, funky bass, great melodies, call and response, social commentary, wrapped in an uplifting atmosphere. It's a formula successfully repeated ten times. 'Plenty Nonsense' as well as giving me my new catchphrase, is carried by the call and response, which is entered into with joyous abandon; and some superb hornsmanship. For his part, Femi's voice is superb, a warmth and a grit. The bass anchors much of the groove, such as its imitation of the vocal refrain in 'No Shame' or something superbly embellished hooks in 'Live for Today'. The album is long, but there is no self-indulgence. The jams aren't wayward, in the contrary everything sounds structured and rehearsed 'Nawa' for instance). Joyful.

Femi Kuti by Femi Kuti gets a Femi Kuti / 5. I'd like to buy this record. Incredibly groovy, just wall to wall jazzy jams, this is the soundtrack I'd like to just persistently follow me during the summer. Perfect to work to, perfect to climb to, really enjoyed this one -- complete shock with the amount of listens it has on Spotify.

kind of like a slightly less lively version of peak fela, it's probably a little too derivative, but i like it a lot more than femi's later work and i love afrobeat soooo

This was great. I really enjoy Fela Kuti's music and didn't know his son was a musician too and this is also really good. Definitely 5 stars for me.

One of the best to ever do it

The first few saxophone notes of the first song won me over immediately. The world music on this list always hits.

A fantastic album. For me Wonder Wonder is the top track on the album. Well earned 5 stars.

Hm i love the album cover. The colours the message, the hint to what the genre is. I've never seen or listened to him ever, but based on the reviews I have hope it'll be good enough. Though I have no idea what to expect exactly. First song, I love this dam. It's so different from the usual songs. Afrobeat is really good with all these instruments. His voice is nice and fitting. I feel other songs will offer more and more as I go on. This is already so good too. Second song, jazz is really everywhere with this album I guess, good. I see how Janelle Monáe might have took some notes from this, not specifically this album, but as an inspiration these kind of songs and artists. Mm I enjoy his accent too, also the lyrics are actually worth reading through it seems, but I don't do that on the first listen. Third song, it smoothed over to this song like nothing. I realized when the preceding one ended, but this one was so good it made me dreamy about it. Fuck this is amazing, sonically, lyrically, vocally and production-wise, it's just too good. The jazz is so well put with the afrobeat and his voice joins all this together, creating this yummyness. The ending part is so well done, plus unexpected. 4th song, ohh fuck this is so upbeat and chaoticcc, but it's just the intro, the actual song better be fucking fire like this. I love transitions to the next song, in this case to the 5th song, mmm it is fire, less upbeat but still. I love powerful and loud songs that are actually what they were made to be. Instrumentally it's top tier, I just don't like that when he starts singing everything else becomes less active, as if he's making a message and instruments gotta lay low, that's usually how music works, yes, but mm here I want both of them simultaneously. 6th song, what an intro and then the real song starting, daam he really worked here, or whoever. Now this was fascinating sonically and even when he started singing it was the same equal goodness too. It's kinda progressive, gets better with the ordered chaos as it goes on. 7th song, first one where's he talking, and also the first where song starts with the voice (I think). I've thought a lot while listening to this, it's such a good album for walking, taking the song in and having a thought or two. 8th song, I forgot to say I love the chorus girls in these songs, they make things more lively and realistic. His lyrics and their accompaniment was just chef's kiss. 9th song, this sounded rock-ish, but it went away as the song went on. The same applies to this song tbh, it has everything my ears usually ask for. I'm confused, I have seen so many 4 and 5 star reviews, rarely any bad ones and even the bad ones see the talent just not their thing, I'm saying how does this not have more overall rating. The ending is groovy and soothing despite all the chaos happening before. 10th song, just as good of a start as ever, don't like that the album is ending, but my ears are getting tired kinda, because I'm wearing headphones ofc, otherwise I'm not even bored. Quite short, considering it's the finale too. The meaning of this song is deep too, like that he manages to get everything perfect somehow. I guess the song is ending and I'll write my final review along with it. I want to say so much, share this experience with someone or anything like it, but mhh. 5 star is more than well deserved for this album, I'm sure I'll come back to these songs. I also do want more from him or artists that have the same qualities in an album like Femi does. Dam I've enjoyed this a lot, I love jazz and afrobeat, there was a lot of genre bending too, which I am mostly satisfied with. This is a gem I hope I won't forget.

Jazzy, groovy, funky, infectious rhythms. I had never heard of this artist before and had no expectations going into this. I am blown away. This album is outstanding.