Femi Kuti

This isn't the easiest album to rate. There were parts that I loved, but there were also parts that sounded like an out of control clown car. I'm going to go straight down the middle with a 3.

I think this was his first album. I’m hoping there are others as well as Fela albums

I'd like it way more if the songs were a little shorter.

Музло плотное, но блин почему так затянуто все

Competent, but doesn't differentiate much from his father's brand of acrobat. The jazz and funk of the afrobeat was pleasant enough, but no particular track stuck with me.

Upbeat, funky, jazz tinged rhythms. Sadly, I don’t relate to either jazz or funk, so I didn’t particularly enjoy this album. I appreciate it, and it’s an accomplished and well produced album, but I’m just not into it.

Mr. Kuti is a Nigerian musician who specializes in a genre called “Afrobeat”, which I would describe as African jazz-fusion. There were some good tracks, but others just seemed like a lot of noise; basically how I feel about most jazz music. 3/5

Interesting, different, but not quite for me. Felt a little same-y.

Femi Kuti (Femme Cutie) has posed some contemporary questions: Will Africa ever unite? Will Jesus ever come? Why the things they wey dey shock you now? You go vex till you break your head? Which problem they come, why not they go? And a little advice from the sage of afrobeat (which is a mash-up of reggae, modern jazz, and aboriginal wisdom:) Live For Today. Good add to the 1001 Must Hear List, would never have heard it otherwise. (3.2*s) You better enjoy life today…

Femi follows his father's path with the upbeat afro-jazz music and I think he improves upon it. This album is a rhythmic adventure straight out of a Blank Panther movie. Thought they may have even been yelling "Wakanda" in the opening track. Songs ran a bit long but they kept me groovin'. The Kutis got a knack for producing some fun jungle jams...2.56 stars for the afrofunkster youngster.

Some pretty nice jams from Femi Kuti and company. I only know an inkling of afrobeat from Gorillaz/Damon Albarn overlap with Tony Allen and some of the minor ways it has permeated pop music. It's upbeat and fun enough to give some good vibes and Femi Kuti proves this on here. 70 minutes was a little more than I needed, but the album was competent enough that I didn't struggle through it at all. Another good global entry from 1001. Even if a lot of this foreign music is not something I would typically come back to I am really glad to be exposed to so many acts that otherwise would have been nowhere near my radar. Can't complain about this one. 2.62 stars

Alright but not as good as his dad

Not as good as his old man. This also suffers from the overproduction found in many 80s and 90s records.

Nepo groovz. It’s fine.

I liked it but there were no tracks that I would actively look for and listen to.

The album has a good sound, in music and vocals. The two songs where they shout the title repeatedly for way too long cost it a star.

I hate jazz, but Afrobeats isn't all that jazz, and this is a bit of fun.

I cannot in any way say that this is bad, but it’s not my bag and I don’t know anything about the genre. Never listening to this again.

I enjoyed this, but I felt like I got the idea after 40 minutes - a bit too long. Not bad at all though.

Mjög góð grúv en þetta er samt ekki að kveikja alveg í mér. Ég er síst að tengja við hann sem söngvara held ég. Solid frekar en spectacular, svo ég leyfi mér smá ensku.

A new to me artist and album. Listened to this whilst working and so tuned in and out somewhat but enjoyed the bits that I caught.

Decent music. Again, something I should be in the mood for, but it was good background music throughout the morning while I was working.

Even with international flare, a jam band is still a jam band…

Your favorite musician’s musician type stuff

Va bra album, men va ikkje i humør

Did not expect to like this with all the horns but ended up being one of the more enjoyable “world sounds” albums I’ve listened to. The tracks didn’t feel like they were the 7/8/9 minutes that they were.

This album is not really my jam to be honest. Not got the patience for the lengthy grooves and rhythms. Just not enough going on to keep me interested during such long tracks. I didn't hate it but I felt like every song was done to excess. I started off jiving but found myself checking how long to go on each song. Probably be great live. The brass was a highlight, really tight and drives each song forward. Can never go wrong with a sax solo. Didn't have any one favourite track. 6/10

Fun and different. A little long. Couldn't really keep a hold of my attention.

Fairly chill African jams

You better end your life today ~( ˘▾˘~) Nice

Like father, like son. Fela was solid and Femi is uplifting, upbeat and cool.

I appreciate the upbeat vibe and joy in this music, but its relentless rhythm is too much for me over the course of multiple songs. Great for an outdoor hang in a beer garden... but that's not where I was.

Just normal afrobeat stuff, heard way better stuff sounding like this but not bad

This was alright. I remember that Michael Kiwanuka album from a while ago, I feel like this laid out the blueprint for the successes that one saw later one. A nice blend of African influences and pop music here. Not really a bad song on here, but nothing that rocked my world all the same. My pick is the one-two punch of "Survival" into "Frustrations" on the front end of this record. 3/5

This was good. I enjoyed the mixes of genre that went into this.

This style of music is not usually my cup of tea , but I did enjoy the upbeat blend of afrobeats & jazz this album offers. Definitely not something I'd go back to day to day, but when the mood hits right this album would be very good. Lots of strong upbeat moments with great instrumentals.

Fairly bland

This album was my first foray into the Afrobeat genre, which I was excited to add to my repertoire. I found out rather early that you might need to be a pretty big saxophone fan to really enjoy this album (and perhaps all of Femi Kuti’s work since it’s his primary instrument). I’m not complaining, just noting the sax isn’t one of my favorite instruments. I thought Kuti’s vocals were emotive and powerful; I liked the inclusion of (what I learned is) the Yoruba language at different points. The musicianship is undeniably good, but it got a bit too repetitive sonically for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the extended intros of the songs despite the fact that most of the songs are too long. I genuinely love discovering new musical genres and feel like I learned something by listening to this album, which made the experience worthwhile.

It didn’t jump out at me and make me want to hear more from his catalogue, but it wasn’t a chore either. Easy listen.

A fun easy listen - great horn section and some great grooves - especially towards the end of the record. A bit too much sax in places. Not sure will return that often so its a high3.

Nicht unbedingt mein bevorzugter Musikstil, aber dennoch spannend, mal etwas völlig anderes zu hören. Das Album ist musikalisch sehr hochwertig gespielt, voller Energie und Rhythmus. Auch wenn es mich stilistisch nicht ganz abholt, war es ein interessantes und bereicherndes Hörerlebnis. Insgesamt eine hörenswerte Platte für alle, die sich auf afrobeat einlassen wollen.

Great musicianship. Needs a replay to really get my head into the afro jazz-funk space.

big brass band Jammin' (reminds me a bit of mardi gras music) and singing about Africa. Not much here but not bad as background music.

Great beats, will never listen to again

Ima direktnu konkurenciju u vidu vlastitog oca tako da je lako napraviti poređenje. Femi dosta manje improvizuje, ili barem tako zvuči, a nekako je opet teže pronaći nešto što duboko grabi pažnju. Vještina je tu ali nešto fali u ukupnom paketu.

-this was definitely not my favorite of the Afrobeat albums i’ve heard and doesn’t hold a candle to Fela Kuti’s work. it’s not bad by any means, just kinda. long, repetitive and uninteresting? idk -it gets three stars just because some of the instrumentation was reaaaally good especially the bass and guitar -Favorites are Survival and Stubbor Problems

It’s no doubt a solid album with some really great energy. This is my third Femi Kuti album now, but I still just don’t enjoy it as much as the other albums on this list. Definitely great arrangements, but it’s not the kind of album I’d want to listen to for over an hour. I’d give it a 7/10.

Enjoyed this. Showed a lot of different influences

I found this to be a great background play, whilst cooking dinner. Great!

Fela Kutin poika, sen musiikkia on ollut aijemmin tällä listalla. Afrikkalaista afrobeattia. Vähän pitkä ja ei oikein mun juttu taaskaan, mutta kiva kuulla tällästäkin musiikkia. Ja ihan kiva oikeestikkin. Parhaat: Frustrations, Plenty Nonsense

Sure ain’t my thing. However, It is brilliantly performed. Catchy rhythms and vocals. The percussion is amazing. Very well produced. These are upbeat pop songs and it was enjoyable to listen to.

This was pretty good. I know it’s not fair to compare him to his dad but I spent the whole record thinking that all the right elements were there but that it lacked some kind of ineffable spark that makes Fela’s music so unique and great. If I had never heard Fela Kati, I’d probably think this was better than I do. But still, a good album.

The mean track length here is over 7 minutes. And without the (unnecessary) 30-second interlude, that average jumps to over 8 minutes. Man, I got places to be, man! Regardless, despite my low expectations, this music was pretty good. Nothing legendary, and no particular standout tracks (other than the earlier ones like Wonder Wonder and Survival being more enjoyable simply in virtue of them appearing early in the album before my patience had run thin). Just 73 minutes of lighthearted world-tinged jamming with a fairly clear political undertone. It's good, it's different, it's nothing spectacular. The instrumentation and musicianship is definitely on point, while the songwriting (mostly song structure) is... well, not great. Love the sax-playing though. I don't trust any 1-star reviews for this album. But nor do I trust any 5-star reviews. Judging by the period in which the Femi Kuti record was released and the subsequent number of Spotify listens, the tracks on here were clearly not very influential on audiences – either for their time or in the present day. I would even vouch that a significant proportion of Femi Kuti's present-day attention is from the 1001 Albums project itself. Some of the inclusions on this list feel a bit performative – in the sense that Dimery thought, "Huh, too many UK and US albums? Better grab one from Nigeria to appease the critics. Can't be too careful these days." – and this album is one of them. And considering global influence is a very real factor affecting how good and how significant music (and art in general) is, I can't in good conscience give this a perfect rating. 3/5 Key tracks: Wonder Wonder, Survival

If I didn’t know about Fela, this would likely be a better album. As it stands, I’d rather listen to Fela, 27 wives and all.

'Look at religion see the contradiction / The confusion, church and mosque dey cause.' W/ big shoes to fill - a Papa Kuti whose legacy is as historic as any - Femi clearly didn't crumble under the pressure. This self-titled release isn't a virtuosic affair - it isn't even as good as it gets necessarily - but what it does boast is an invitational energy and lyrics endearingly in touch w/ social, political, and spiritual realities. I'm not in love w/ each and every sound apparent on this record, especially the soft saxophonic tones that are wont to introduce many of the tracks, but when each song gets going, it's difficult to tune out. I also admire the son's intent to not forge his own path rebelliously but to carry on tradition effectively and uniquely.

Cool background listening music

2,5/5. Самый нормисный афробит.

It’s nice to have an album that simply exudes fun. It’s all around nice vibes from front to back here, and sometimes that’s all you really need. I’ve no doubt that more knowledgeable people than me would listen to this and hear much deeper meanings behind it all, but to this dingus fun is simply enough. It has me wiggling my lardy tuckus like it was nobody’s business. It didn’t blow my mind, but it certainly put a smile on my face.

Good album. Interesting combination of jazz and African musical influences. The rhythm section is outstanding, and the drums are amazing.

Best Song: Wonder Wonder This isn't bad, it's just not really my thing. I can see listening to this when cooking or cleaning but will not be adding it to the playlist or anything. 3/5.

Not always a fan of African music but I enjoyed this one

pretty chill, some bangers but some songs too long for their own good

Not as good as his dad, first song good rest alright

it was all right i suppose

One of those genres where it all feels very bouncy and fun and then after 15 minutes you realise it’s all the same and just jazz noodling.

Decent

Good and interesting. Need to learn more about this.

It was a fun listen, didn’t realise how much jazz was in Afrobeat.

3.5 - cool African jazz funk

The 90's smooth jazz influence isn't really my thing, but I still got into the groove of this album

The driving rhythm brings me in a good mood. Definitely no background-music. Maybe a bit too long. 2,5

Pretty decent Afrobeat album, not his most famous album though so I am curious about its inclusion in here.

🗣️🗣️🗣️

To me it just kinda sounded like Fela Kuti but with less charisma, or "rizz" if you will. Shouts out kwame nkrumah tho fr Fav song: Plenty Nonsense

Dad- NA Mom- 8 Mike-6 Lori- 5.5 Michael- 7 Miles- NA Cole- NA Avg-6.63

Lost my review for this one - from memory, it was a delightful change from staid 70s rock, and the riffs and rhythms were great, but each song did start to drag a little as there was nothing in the way of changing chord progressions or mood. Still a pleasant mood, but not sure why this over any other African albums - Fela Kuti especially.

Femi Kuti was not a bad album. This album does give me a lot of the same vibes that Fela Kuti's 2 albums on this project did which makes sense seeing as Femi is his son. But then again, they use a lot of the same instruments, use melodies that have more or less the same vibe and even their voices sound very similar. The songs are also very long, just like they were in Zombie and Live!. And just like those albums, this one is a pretty decent trip. The songs here sounded pretty good and while they were indeed long, they didn't tire me out as much as some other long albums did. This album wasn't a bad listen and i do feel like both Femi and his dad are around the same quality-wise. Best Song: Stubbor Problems Worst Song: Live For Today

I don't want to become one of those participants constantly complaining about the Britpop on this list but I always look forward to an album from outside the Anglosphere, especially Africa. So much of the popular Western music that I love -- variations in the blues, rock, folk space -- derive some of their most compelling elements from music brought along with enslaved people from Africa during the Transatlantic slave trade. This is a little too soft jazz for me in a lot of places, but I love things like the drum/sax interplay on 'Frustrations'. Nawa is excellent. Plenty Nonsense is catchy, too, with a melody that sounds familiar but I can't place. Come forewarned that these jams go on a little (9-10 minutes, many of them). Definitely worth checking out, though. It's not the Afrobeat that influenced the clash, but it's literally that guy's son. 3/5

Enjoyable. Funky. Clearly talented musician. Maybe too much going on at points.

You know i love Fela and Femi Kuti but nothing really stuck out to me from this album. :(

ritmo bacana demais, apesar de algumas músicas com várias repetições do backing vocal que me distraiam demais.

A little long but I must say I'm surprised by how enjoyable this was.

#26 Femi Kuti ~ Femi Kuti Femi Kuti has big shoes to fill. His father Fela Kuti is a venerated saint in the genre of Afrobeat. Many acts, both past and present, are inspired by his work, particularly in making infectious beats, grooves and harmonies. These are very big shoes to fill for the offspring of Fela Kuti. At the same time, you don't want to be a carbon copy of your father, else you won't stand out as a creative artist. So Femi takes a more populist approach to his music. A lot less free-jazz influence, a bit more solid rock influence. Instead of improvisatory free verse, he sings in melodic contours. All the sharp kicks and edges of Fela's style is smoothened into a slick sheen. It's nice and certainly more accessible than his father's style. However, I feel like this smoothening that Femi has incorporated might have sabotaged the potential power of the grooves he makes. This is clearly personal taste, but this soul-like RnB approach he has in this album draws away from his very politically charged lyrics, which I really like. Nevertheless, this is an alright record. I can't be too mad about it, but I don't feel crazy about it either.

Doesn't work always. Hits at the right time. Quite fun anyways.

It's technically good, but I'm not getting much out of it.

Not sure how often I’d revisit in full, but it’s a fun afrobeat/funk album.

it was okay.

Great album! I didn’t even know that Fela Kuti had children, much less the fact that they made music. I love longer songs and almost every song in this album is over 8 minutes. Really great listen, glad I found it.

Still got the beat

A bit long and repetitive. Pleasant overall but tbh I prefer the instrumentals without the (main) vocals/singing.

Alright, but not really feeling it?

It was quite good, although it's not my cup of tea.

I liked the music. However the songs and album could have been a bit shorter. It dragged on.

I do think it should have been shorter

Normally I like a lot of the international stuff they’ve put on this list but not this. It was about 30 minutes too long and he kinda repeated the same lines over and over again.

overall this was a really nice listen. enjoyed the sounds, tempos. but it drug out quite a bit. would have enjoyed it more if songs were bit shorter-all the repetition just made them lag.

Very different from music I'd usually listen to and am happily surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Very fun dancey beats but I could have enjoyed it just as much with the songs a few minutes shorter, think some of them got a tad repetitive. Think Changes was listing things he disagreed with and then had lyrics about women wanting to be like men, men becoming women, men marrying men and women marrying women... Not 100% sure its sexist/transphobic/homophobic but I didn't love it, think it's 4 stars without this song. Favourite: No Shame Least: Live For Today (or Changes)

I liked the instrumental parts.

Surprisingly nice album. The artist deserves more than ~60k monthly listeners in Spotify. 7/10

Afro beat, smooth an easy listen nothing angular

Femi no es, obviamente, su padre. Sin embargo su influencia no ha sido menor, ha colaborado con Common, Mos Def, D'Angelo, Macy Gray, The Soultronics, Nile Rodgers, Thievery Corporation y un largo etc. lo que da la dimensión que ha venido adquiriendo, y que en buena parte culminó con Red Hot + Riot y sobre todo en Arabesque, uno de los mejores temas del último gran disco de Coldplay. En pleno auge del Brit rock y coletazos post grunge americano, esto suena a gloria.

It was nice enough but I don’t see it as something I’d revisit.

Fine. Nothing really stood out

I’ve heard of Fela Kuti before, but I didn’t know that he had a son who’s also a musician. This will be my third African album to review in the last ten days, and I tend to enjoy African music, especially from Nigeria, so I’m excited to see what Fela Kuti has in store! Femi Kuti’s self-titled album didn’t blow me away, but I thought it was pretty good. This album had some really fun and danceable songs, full of rich arrangements, and I enjoyed his political and social commentary as well. A good number of the songs didn’t justify their epic length in my opinion, but nothing on this album was grating or annoying. The leadoff track, “Wonder Wonder” was okay, but it wore thin and felt repetitive after a bit, which made me wonder wonder if I had gotten my hopes up for this album. However, the next song, “Survival” was my favorite off of the album. The opening absolutely hooked me in with the guitar and saxophone, and then some really bright brass arrangements and percussion kicked in. The xylophone was outstanding too, and on an album full of great dance beats, this was the danc-iest of them all. I thought “Nawa” was great too, and the introduction did a fantastic job of teeing up the punchiest song on the album. “Subbor Problems” also stood out to me; I loved how Femi talked about a conversation with his dad. “Stubbor Problems” felt like it was reaching back through time to bring Fela Kuti into the present, and I thought it worked really well. The bass and guitar playing were excellent too, and I liked how the horns kicked in more later on in the song. This album’s best moments really shone through, but the lowest moments on it were a bit boring and dragged this album down a bit, making its hour-plus run time a bit of a drag at times. Still, this effort from Femi Kuti was enjoyable enough to be worth a listen.

This was some good, funky music, and I really appreciated Kuti’s prior album I heard here, but I thought this one went on for a bit too long. It started to drag.

Funky Afro beats

3 stars, pretty cool.

Lively and vibrant. Maybe a little nitpick: some songs went on simply too long. I enjoyed “Live for Today” and “Plenty of nonsense” the most.

Just like his poppa.

It’s jazzy, it’s groovy, it’s rocking, and it is tooooooo damn long

Not the best music I've heard from Africa, but not the worst either

I don't think I've ever heard anything by Femi Kuti before, and this is definitely a different style from a number of other African-based albums we've gotten in the collection--including of course the massive presence of his father--so that's always a good thing. This album definitely seems to embrace elements of his father's Afrobeat tradition, but either because of Femi Kuti's decision to be more accessible, or perhaps because of the kind of hollow sound many 90s-era albums have (not much bass, every instrument very discrete in a kind of artificial way), I wasn't really drawn into the songs on the albums all that much; this made the 70+ minute runtime seem even longer, sadly. I thought "Frustrations" and "Nawa" and there energetic "Live for today" seemed the best of the bunch, as the almost reggae-sounding singing on many of the tracks kind of blended the rest together, despite some pretty incisive lyrics at times.

Good music to work by--keeps you energized.

GROOVY! Really doesn’t sound like over an hour at all, this went by so quick. It’s like a 3.5, but I’ll be rounding down.

Nice

its okay its just too damn long and my brain is fried

Some toe-tappers but didn’t mesh with me

I enjoyed this music.

Very political so it's not my taste, but it sounds good and is fun.

afrikan siunaus 80 iq music heh

Yep. Really enjoyed that. Great energy.

Good fun but will always draw comparisons with his dad's work, and that is a high standard to attain.

Just as infectious as hid Old Man, if a little more polished. It's impossible not to dance to these rhythms.

Okay, so there were some songs I enjoyed. I was trying to pay attention to the lyrics, because I believe they are the reason this album is on the list. A lot of the songs are calls to action for the Nigerian people to stand up for themselves and demand or work towards better conditions for themselves, their country, and Africa as a whole. At one point this morning I was a middle aged white lady dancing in my kitchen to this music because I couldn’t help myself. It also has a chill vibe and would not be misplaced playing in the background while at the beach… until you listen to the lyrics that is.

Deep grooves.

# 450 : 03/04/2025 : Quite pleasant and not too bad. Some good catchy beats exist here. Not what I had expected. Very fun!

Didn’t enjoy this as much as Fela Kuti.

Was fine. Good different music but didn't save anything.

World, Jazz, 1995 -> 3

Sounds insane, the recording quality is out of this world. Vocals not my cup of tea sadly, though the instrumental parts are amazing

Ganska okej faktiskt. Lite baktakt på några låtar. Lite jobbigt långa låtar dock.

Pretty nice.

3/5

Cheerful, peppy, great rhythms.

6.5/10

Watered-down afrobeat. It’s still pretty good, but Femi Kuti lacks that ✨It Factor✨ that came so naturally to his father. It’s shitty to compare the two, especially because Femi is a very, very, very good saxophonist and band leader, but a lot of his stylistic choices feel influenced by the smooth jazz of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Or maybe that’s what I mean by “watered-down.” Truthfully, I don’t think the song lengths help much, because nearly every song here overstays its welcome. If Femi had chosen to cut everything here in half, like, literally just add fade outs and fade ins, I think this would be a much stronger album. Again, it’s not that I’m not vibing with it, or that I’m not able to catch the groove, but I found myself constantly ready to move on, and when I went to check how much of the song was left, it was always at the halfway mark. In all honesty, this feels like one of those “if you know, you know” albums that works if you’re super into a genre and breaking through the entry-level classics. If you’ve gone through the major releases of Fela Kuti and want more, this is a pretty obvious next step. I also think it’s an album I would show someone who’s never even heard of afrobeat; as an introduction, the basicness might not be such a problem, although it will be once they hear Fela Kuti and revisit Femi Kuti’s debut. It also seems like this might be the wrong Femi Kuti album, based on some brief googling, and seems like his least interesting. None of it’s ever bad, but it just keeps hitting a glass ceiling and can’t seem to break through with something even slightly more engaging for me.

Мне понравился этот альбом. Может это какое-то пост-нат кларити или что? И я вообще буду добрее? Очень живой альбом. Грув, эмоции, разнообразие. Лучшая песня - Stubborn Problems.

I liked the instrumentation. Was good music for my commute. Not a huge fan of Nawa. Highlights were Survival, Frustrations, and Live For Today

The instrumentals were interesting. 3 stars

I can appreciate this music to an extent. I think it is good, but it is not something that I could find to be great, unfortunately Best Song: Live for Today Rating: 5.0/10 3 Stars

Not particularly my vibe but it was fun and I’ve never listened to anything like this before and that’s what this is all about right??

Neat stuff, but would never seek it out or go back to it

Definitely listenable. Not my first choice but worth revisiting

Nice

Not my usual genre, but really enjoyed this! Brought the party to my Tuesday morning.

I liked this. It’s too long and I have nothing to say about it, but I liked it. You can’t take this away from me.

I always feel bad reviewing music thats very personal and political (and especially from a different culture) as "good driving music" but that was the context in which I enjoyed this, and appreciated the sincerity. 3.5

Great vibes. Nothing bad.

Eh.

It's a really good album but perhaps I was not totally into the mood? Either way, great composition.

Another odd choice for a mostly 'Western Music' list. World music is a bit of a token inclusion. Good listen though. Pleasant groove.

Gillar det men känns på tok för långt

Didn’t get all the way through. But was great background music for cleaning and working. Nice beats, nice vocals. Enjoyable and eye opening to Afro beats

I quite enjoyed this for a while, but 73 minutes is too long. This could have been a 5 if it had been cut to 40 minutes

Liked it, didn’t love it. It’s no Zombie

Unfortunately found it dragged towards the end, musically good fun

I don't like jazz. So the jazz parts were unpleasant but the funk parts were pretty decent.

Wonder Wonder is such a catchy and fun opener. I think that's going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. The rest of this was fun and enjoyable music, but did feel like it ran a tad long. It's in that High 3/Low 4 territory. I'm leaning more towards a High 3 because I might not return to this one much unless I want Wonder Wonder stuck in my head again.

Some big band afrobeat. Not bad, but still feels like background music.

Very groovy, more “western” sounding than anticipated

great

This is good for what it is, and I can listen to it, but it's not connecting with me. It mostly just rolled along in the background. Chalking it up to my personal taste.

This was a really nice listen. At first I wasn't sure if it would be a sax / reed heavy album but I was really pleased to hear the first song start to bloom. That's probably my favorite track on the album too, and the chorus is just catchy enough to hang in my head for a little while after. After writing that that was my favorite track I was interested in checking out the song plays on Spotify, and I was really surprised to see these be so low. All but the first track, "Wonder Wonder" have under 100k listens, which is a shame because this is a really solid record.

Danceable, if I only knew how to dance… I like the instruments and the female backing vocals. I don’t like the length of the songs and the album, and it’s not the kind of music I’d actively listen to.

Was kinda fun but definitely far too long

3.5

Pretty good. Femi seems to be continuing the legacy of his father’s music, but I can’t say there is anything really novel or new here.

𝘔𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘔𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘺 Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ Standout Songs: 1. Wonder Wonder, 3. Frustrations, 5. Nawa, 6. Plenty Nonsense, 7. Stubborn Problems, 𝟖. 𝐍𝐨 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝟗. 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 This is an interesting album to me. The instrumentals remind me of those old YouTube radio videos where someone would compile vibrant songs from the 20th century and create an atmosphere that puts you into the country and time period it describes. I thoroughly enjoyed my listening experience, and it is an album that I would listen all the way through again, but I'm not particularly moved by the child of a famous artist, nevertheless the grandchild of a politician, singing about having shame in being laborers and maids. Femi Kuti -- Jaden Smith of his time?

Big Fela Kuti fan, so was stoked to hear one of his son's albums. It's definitely a good time. A little long, but fun.

Gear: DCA ÆON 2 Noire Artwork: 🌍☕🎷 Production: 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🎷🪘🎤🌍✊🏾🔥 Rating: ☕☕☕(☕)/5

Час с лишним африканского саксофона. Неплохо, но не лучшее что я слышал. Лучшая песня: Live For Today

What a fun time! Not for all the time but when it is the time it’s a great time.

Wereldmuziek is een te lelijke term. En als we dan toch een beetje kritisch mogen zijn op de Westerse popcultuur, dan toch wel dat het met name mannetjes zijn uit de US of A en Britland die de dienst uitmaken. Daarom mooi om te zien dat deze weergaloze lijst ook een kijkje neemt ónder de evenaar en zo nu en dan wat moois uit de hoge hoed tovert. Ook al een ligt Nigeria boven de evenaar en woont deze beste man London, you get ma point. AFROBEAT! Wanneer de afro-sound mixt met de soul en funk uit Amerika ontstaat er zeker wat moois. Vader Fela heeft jarenlang eigenhandig kunnen schaven aan het genre, talentvol zoonlief rides the train. Ik houd wel van de Afro sound. En zeker als het wordt gecombineerd met genres die mijn breintje goed herkennen, dan valt er vaak wat te genieten. Blazers in overvloed op Femi Kuti. Wanneer gaat de zon weer schijnen? 7,5/10 Stubborn problems

La música "étnica" afro ha sido manipulada al extremo de direccionarla hacia una supuesta proximidad divina, tal es así que cansa leer sesudas aproximaciones en ese sentido. No me gusta aquello, y este Femi Kuti al parecer, es uno de la camada. No me impresiona

Very funky and energetic. Never quite reaches the heights of those 70's Fela Kuti records, but is great nonetheless. Key tracks: Survival Frustrations Plenty Nonesense

J'ai bien aimé, mais je trouvais que trop souvent les chansons étaient trop longues pour leur bien. Si la majorité étaient juste un peu racourcises pour éviter de devenir trop répétitive, je pense j'aurais beaucoup plus embarqué. 6/10

Knew the name sounded familiar, turns out this is Fela Kuti's eldest son from an earlier album we listened to (85). Went back and listened again to compare and I like his fathers album a bit more. Mostly cuz it also had Ginger Baker bangin' on da drums mon! Still pretty solid to see how this sound evolved over the years. Live For TOday was probably my favorite.

Very rich optimistic music. A good vibe!

# Album Name: Femi Kuti # Artist: Femi Kuti # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: Not bad. Quite a lot of decent upbeat funk/jazz. # Top Tunes: No idea. They blended in. # Would I listen to it again? Maybe.

Enjoyable

I enjoyed it, but it got kind of repetitive. Reminded me of Dave Matthews for some reason .

This was a good listen.

Ah man, this is such a disappointing one in some ways. The music here is SO good. It's a real party atmosphere throughout, with real passion, personality and skill, and I completely applaud it. The problem is that the tracks are way too long. It's such a shame, because even the best tracks become repetitive and samey. If this were a much tighter album, with shorter tracks and a shorter runtime, then I'd be way more up on it. By the end it just dragged way too much. 3.5 rounded down.

afrobeat isnt realy my thing but a very cool album

One of those albums I really wanted to like but it just didn't happen.

- Also musikalisch hat das größtenteils echt gebockt - Geiler Afrobeat, strotzt vor positivem Lebensgefühl. - Fand vor allem die Bläsersektion ziemlich cool - Hat Spaß gemacht und doch würde ich es mir jetzt nicht täglich anmachen, weils mir hin und wieder zu repetetiv war und dafür echt ziemlich lang. Rating: 2,5/5

I love femi's dad and i also love highlife ... this was enjoyable but so similar in sound to his dad that in all honesty it just made me wanna listen to his dad's music !

Jazzy, African, for my taste a little bit too much big band.

The kuti family is pretty talented

Good enough but a bit too long for my liking. I started the album then made tacos and I’m eating and the album still isn’t over.

6/10 - It is quite close to a 7 or 8/10 because I like most of the songs but they are all too long. There are parts of each song that are extremely good but the mix of each song being too long and the album being similar all the way through reduces the score.

Worked while listening, so kinda tuned out. Fine I guess. Probably would’ve been bored if listening more intently because it is pretty long and kinda samey

Just dandy, but nothing id play again

A really enjoyable album for some background music, it just has the same flaw that dampens the rating of a lot of albums on the list, the length is a bit much. Liked it enough, but probably won’t seek it out to listen to it again.

A really cool album that I will probably never listen to again. The music style is awesome and the lyrics are really impactful. I don't have anything negative to say about it (besides it's length), but it's not really my genre and I'm not going to seek it out.

Full disclosure: I have a hard time with the current afrobeat pandemic sweeping the globe, so I have some disdain for Femi Kuti and this record specifically for sowing the seeds. But Femi Kuti (the album) is equal parts groovy, fun and deadly serious. Some of the 9 core tracks are developed better than others, but it's hard to stand still throughout the (too long) runtime. Ultimately, it definitely belongs on the list and it's definitely not my jam.

Is it good music? Sure. Nothing wrong with a little fun now and again.

This was enjoyable, but I felt that the singing wasn't the best most of the time. Musically, though, it was great.

ok but instantly made me want to listen to Fela.

Fine. Good grooves.

Great funky jam jazz music that would be amazing to see live. The album plays like a live performance which has its drawbacks as the songs seem to all blend together and at an hour and fifteen minutes gones on for a little too long. Would have loved to see him live.

Was ok

Anna - not what I expected from a 90s album, felt more modern, party album, great for dancing Dan - too samey jazzy

Im confused about the stance in the last song of the album so ima give it a 3

I don’t mind this music, I enjoy it without ever planning on adding it to my playlist. But I do have to wonder why I’ve now had 2 Femi Kuti albums on this project and have yet to see a single album from someone like - Billy Joel?

Muito bom, mas essas músicas de 9min começam a ficar repetitiva né migão

I don't think I could tell the difference between Femi and Fela Kuti music. A lot of singing about Africa. They are both very good for what they are, just not the style of music I usually listen to or seek out.

Pretty good, and super chill. It’s between a 3 and a 4; it did seem a little too long and I lost focus a bit, but on another day, it could just as easily earn a 4.

Bland choice considering other noteworthy afrobeat albums.

This was a pretty meh album. His voice is great and the music is pleasant enough, but 73 mins of unrelenting upbeat sound that really doesn't vary much in it's structure is exhausting. 2.5/5 -> 3/5

A little stiff but a respectable debut.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I was going to, but this was pretty much what I was expecting it to be, albeit a little long.

Afrobeats music

Much much better than I thought it would be. Actually added a song Stubbor Problems to my liked library. Well produced, singer reminds me of Bob Marley. Three solid stars.

Fun but waaay too long. 3/5

I liked it

🎧AFRICA! 🌍 Solid Afrobeat album, though not as impressive as his father’s work. Favorite track: Wonder Wonder

I like afro-beat alright. Not something I seek out but made for a nice, upbeat listening on a Friday morning.

I enjoyed this one.

Kuti jest the best. Afrobeat miejscami podobny do reagee jakkolwiek się to pisze. Całkiem przyjemne, ale nie w moim stylu. 3/5

It goes on for way too long and the songs get very repetitive but the music isn't bad. I really like the saxophone works and some of the instrumentals. I'd give it a 2.5 but I'm rounding it up to 3 instead of 2.

God, these songs were long.

Overall upbeat and fun! Perfect for a sunny morning at home.

Kind of exhausting each song being 9 mins but not bad, wouldn’t listen to again but hey

I enjoyed the Afrobeat vibe of this album even if Femi Kati is a nepo baby

3.5 stars. Afrobeat with activism-infused lyrics. Upbeat tunes, big band feel at times.

Suffering from the obvious comparisons, this lacks some of the rawness of his father's work

Not my usual thing, but I did enjoy listening to it. I’d call it interesting, and it deserves another listen

I enjoy Afro-fusion-jazz, but many songs felt too long and repetitive.

An absolute Gatsby-esque party of an album. It just lasted a little too long and ended up making me feel as if the party would never end as my energy drained and I prayed that everyone would leave my house soon.

This didn't meet my understanding of Afrobeat exactly, but it was ok. The songs are lengthy and near the edge of being annoying or boring.

Part Afro-beat, part funk, part jazz. A good album, but a bit repetitious for me.

Good, really good Good groove. Enjoyable, too long but good. Between a high 3 and 4

My enjoyment of this album went down the longer I listened to it. It started off as a really fun listen with really talented musicians creating really unique stuff from a continent that I don't hear a lot of music out of. But there's only so many of these ten minute songs you can listen to before it all starts blending together. I didn't think there was a ton of variety between the songs and for as much as I loved the first couple I got really bored by the end of this very long album.

Femi Kuti is really fun actually, has a huge vibrancy about it, some fair variety in arrangement and sound, goes on a bit too long overall and I'm obviously quite disconnected from the intended audience, but I like it. 3.

This is nice, fun, definitely outstays its welcome by some margin but it's upbeat, there's a bit of variety, and it's enjoyable. A solid 3/5.

Love this. Loved his dad also!

Honestly I don't have much to say about this one. I previously had 3 days in a row of 5 star albums and this one just kind of played in the background. Nothing offensive but nothing really caught my ear. I enjoy funk, jazz, and afrobeat so overall it was pretty good but nothing seemed amazing.

Super fun! I like how this steered a little more jazz. It kept it moving, flowing and interesting. I also liked the political / social conscious lyrics. I like afrobeats, but I liked how this kind of expanded on that in a different way. This was fun.

I enjoyed this, especially the call-&-response & the horn arrangements. It did start to become a bit of a wash due to the repetitiveness for over an hour tho, which is affecting my rating.

He falls into his dad’s trap of extending every song far longer than is enjoyable, but overall I preferred this to the Fela Kuti albums I’ve heard. Plenty of infectious, high-energy grooves, underpinned by socially conscious but not preachy lyrics. 3.5

Fun Afro-inspired jazz/funk to listen to on a chill afternoon.

COol panerA VIbes

Pretty cool, lots of nice grooves and hooks. It has very little streams for an album on this list. Songs are a bit too long.

Is this the second Femi Kuti album? Sounds familiar.

That was a lovely vibe, perhaps a bit too 90s in terms of production, but some really funky moments.

This was a new to me selection. I enjoyed it. African Jazz.

More Afrobeat than Jazz, but a blend of both - but I liked it.

3.5

It's no wonder this album brought Afrobeat to the mainstream. His father was an absolute legend, and I do prefer Fela's far more intricate compositions. But Femi Kuti is ambitious, bringing forth pop-friendly tunes that are loud, fast, fun, and triumphant. I do find it pretty overwhelming and exhausting. It tries to be flashy without saying much. I'm sure he's impressive live, and it has great modern 90s production, but a lot of seems like it's just played for the hell of it. It didn't leave much of an impression on me. It also repeats a lot of the same techniques. Which for a double album with 10 minute songs, most tracks fail to stand on their own. Favorites: Wonder Wonder, Frustrations

Some great jazz in here but way too long.

Did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Great for the feelings alone, you don't need to know tge words to understand it.

Part of what I love about this list is that it’s not just your typical classic rock albums you’d find in a box of records at a yard sale. Never would have listened to this album if not for this list. Quite enjoyable, love that there are lots of jazzy/funky themes incorporated into a traditional African sound. Likely never will make it into my regular listening habits but I’m glad I listened to it.

I initially thought I was listening to a Fela Kuti album and thought it wasn’t as good as the other two albums he had on the list, turns out it’s Femi who is his son. This is still an enjoyable album and worth listening too. But won’t be adding to my frequent rotation.

I believe I can just flat out state I'm a fan of Afro-Pop. I do wish the songs were about half the length they are, though. That says more about me than the music though. At least what gets to American shores. Given that Femi is the child of Fela Kuti, that leads me to believe that Lagos's music scene is wild.

Kinda heat

One reliable way of tanking your business is to pass ownership to your son upon your retirement. This is due to the infallible fact that every single son of a rich man is an absolute fucking spanner. If you’re a man whose dad has seven figures or more in the bank, you should try and understand that it is only that money that’s keeping you out of the Argos stockroom. Of course, I say “should”, but there’s no chance of you actually grasping that point, and you’ll continue to believe that the makeweight non-job Daddy insidiously shoved you into so as to mask the embarrassment his loins begat is your job solely because of merit. And then you’ll fly off and shoot an elephant, because that’s exactly the cuntish escapade the worthless superrich especially relish. But anyway, at the age of 93 Daddy’s heart will just explode after his mistress has tried for two hours to coax the most meagre and supple of erections from him, and you will find yourself shoved into the CEO position, in no way for your abilities and charm, but purely due to the old man’s spite towards the rest of the board. You will then demolish the company within six months after you invest the entire pension fund in an NFT a spotty Fortnite player waved at you on Twitter, and you’ll be shoved back into your non-executive role, having learnt not a fucking thing, Donald and Eric. A similar process exists in the world of rock, in that vanishingly few successful rockstars are the sons of rockstars. This is not due to a lack of effort from these scions, God no. Julian Lennon will be wearing those specs imitating his father’s goggles and pleading with us to give his latest homage to Imagine a chance until the day he carks it. But nepotism in the arts is perhaps even less forgivable than in business; at least the businessman’s son has the purity of money as an excuse, whereas the son tracing his rockstar father’s path seems to ignore the sense of individuality and character upon which rock sits. Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright were only able to wriggle out of their fathers’ penumbrae because their fathers were too odd to achieve mainstream success, and as such their sons were not judged by how much they failed to measure up to the legacy. Fela Kuti, the father of Femi Kuti, was also the father of Afrobeat. Afrobeat, for those not cognizant of non-western musical trends, is a predominately Nigerian genre that emerged in the 1960s, which combines traditional West African styles and instrumentation with jazz, funk and soul. The name Afrobeat was Fela Kuti’s own coining, and Fela Kuti directly sought to become the James Brown of Nigeria, and later the whole of Africa. Even more so than his African-American counterparts, Fela Kuti sought to use his music as a political tool. Various African governments sought to suppress both Kuti and his music, and the full range of Fela Kuti’s political involvements (both praiseworthy and shameworthy) is beyond this review’s purview. Anyway, we’ve got to get onto the son now. Femi Kuti took up the saxophone aged 15, and later began playing alongside his father. He would form his own Afrobeat band in the 80s, and over the years has attained a position as a grand statesman of world music. And that world music designation is possibly what has allowed Femi, and some of his other siblings, to avoid being crushed by his father’s legacy. This may be unfair, but the child of a world music pioneer can more readily be seen as a guardian of their parent’s flame, than the child of a rockstar can. But in frankness, neither perception is logical. By this fallacious argument, Femi Kuti’s father bestows him an authenticity, whereas Julian Lennon’s father bestows him an inauthenticity. You’re on much more rigorous ground if you damn Julian Lennon’s music just out of crapness. So how to assess Femi Kuti’s music, independently of the chap whose pods he came from? Well, the first thing on greeting is a saxophone. Femi Kuti is holding a saxophone on the cover, so I can’t say I was astonished by that. But there’s a problem with the saxophone: it’s a saxophone, the worst instrument of them all. How did the saxophone become so prominent in 20th-century music? Hell, how did it become associated with sexiness, of all things? We should not encourage saxophonists by making them multiple Grammy nominees, surely? But after that opening parp, the music settles into a groovy pace, rendering the whole album enjoyable in the moment. But remembering that moment the moment after is impossible. That transience doesn’t make the music bad, and the music isn’t bad. Maybe it’s my fault, and my unfamiliarity with Afrobeat prevents me from appreciating all this album’s facets. Or maybe these are extended jams that doesn’t extend anywhere especially memorable. That may seem harsh, and I would like to affirm that the music isn’t bad. But I wonder what this album is for. This is apparently a record with political intent, but I couldn’t tell you the substance of its sloganeering. This is obviously my fault, and it perhaps demonstrates that I’m not the audience for this, or that I should up my game, but an album touching on political themes is not inherently laudable (should we respect Skrewdriver because their white-power anthems were “political”? Cobblers should we). Even whilst excepting that aspect, this album blows right past me, and the present effect it has is to cause a fleetingly pleasant shrug. NoRadio, signing off.

Afrobeat. Mejor de lo que esperaba.

2/3

Upbeat. New to me. Interesting listen but got repetitive and skipped the last couple of songs.

The 1990s 'world-music' sheen diminishes the forecefulness of the previous generation's afrobeat, buffing off the edges and taming the wildness of the Kuti sound, turning it into something a lot more generic as it circulates primarily for a European/American audience. Femi's band's keyboard tones, super compressed bass sound, and bordering-on smooth jazz sax bits really detract from the hard-hitting funk fury of Fela. There are still some fantastic deep grooves here though and the horn riffs really rip. "No Shame" is a powerful anthem for migrant labor, reminding workers to take pride in who they are despite the degradations they face.

ну кайф, но больше часа надоело

Блять, я сюда же писал(((((( Ладно, тогда сюда обзор на kd lang Да просто норм и приятно. Вокал хороший, джаза нормально навалило

This music slaps

Un album au jazz entraînant, qui me fait sourire.

Vil gerne, men gider ikke. Kilder lidt mange steder, men ikke nok til jeg griner

Kæmpe afrobeat vibe! Håbefuldt, opløftende, funk/jazz

It’s not my style but I found it interesting that each song had an incredibly long intro. The lyrics had meaning as well, but the mutual emphasis was something that we don’t honor here. So the uniqueness (to me) was intriguing. Probably not a long term fan, but I appreciated it as something new and different.

Good. Not my thing.

First time listen. Lively and fun. Like a tourist traveling abroad, stumbling into a popping nightclub, pounding generous portions of local rum punch, and hitting the floor in a happy glow of floppy arms and laughter. (Bad Dancing) Rinse and Repeat.

Pretty pretty good

Fun music. Songs could do with being 3-4 minutes shorter.

A fun and energizing album. Great music to vibe to. I enjoyed the medley of different instruments used and the singing. It might be because I don't listen to much afrobeat in general but all the songs started to blend together and feel rather repetitive by the second half of the album.

I think it's a fun album. It's very upbeat and definitely gets your feet tapping. The criticism I would have is that it all sounds VERY similar. It's almost like a single one hour song. Not a bad thing as background music, but a bit repetitive when you're sitting down to actually listen to it. I'll give it 3 stars.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from 'afri beat', but I enjoyed this album

Good

This was a vibe I liked it

Interesting for a one off listen, saved a few tracks to a world playlist.

Kind of good background.

Better than I expected, but maybe just not mh style. Listen while delivering belated Christmas gifts to some friends across town

first listen reeeeaaaaallllllyyyyyy long

Good!

Overwhelmed with work today, and late for my daily reviews. Anthologies and other "best of albums" suggest that the first two tracks of this early album by Femi Kuti are notable career highlights. They have pretty good afrobeat grooves, and give you a good inkling of what Fela's son was capable of at the time. For more details, I'll need to revisit later on. Wish I had had the time to do it right now. 3/5 for the purposes of this list ("neutral" grade because I couldn't listen to the whole album). Number of albums left to review: less than 400 (I've temporarily lost count here) Number of albums I'll include in my own list: half so far, approximately Number of albums I *might*  include: a quarter, approximately (including this one) Number of albums I'll never include: another quarter (many others are more important to me).

Solid

Lively, immersive, and thought-provoking.

It’s cheery and upbeat but after a while it all kind of blurred in to one

Dug it, fun listen

Super chill. Solid vibes. Had never heard any before. Glad I know of it now.

I liked it but some of the songs were a little long and repetitive.

The son of Fela continues to carry and develop the Afrobeat dynasty. I'm glad to keep seeing world music's important place on this list

Pretty good stuff. Great pace, great horns, and lots of energy. But I don't think that the songs needed to be as longs as they were. I'm guessing that these songs were meant to be danced to and not simply listened to.

Often good but struggles to cohesively become great at any point. Weak point being the vocals and lyricism. Moments of instrumental jammy beauty stand out amongst mediocre vocal performances. Songs feel stagnant and lightly repetitive at times. Sax and rhythm section are the highlight.

This was okay, but it sounded like less emphatic versions of his father's work. I don't feel the passion I feel when listening to Fela Kuti.

Its very bouncy and groovy.

Really good energy and sound

Canzoni molto lunghe

Grade C fusion jazz

Big fan of saxophones

World music and listenable.

Excellent eats, uplifting and fun music.