Soundclash: Femi Kuti vs. KCRW

Soundclash

Streaming Tracks: J-Sole remix, original version

KCRW Music Director Jason Bentley, Garth Trinidad, Raul Campos, Liza Richardson, and Jeremy Sole remix songs from Femi’s latest Album "Day by Day."

The revolutionary essence of Afrobeat music is rooted deeply in the Kuti family legacy. Although crowned and revered as "godfather" of the genre, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was inspired by a rich West African musical heritage and middle class upbringing marked by his parents impressive achievements, influential people, places, trends, and the raw, fortifying funk of James Brown. Since the genre's inception in the late 1960's, KCRW played a critical role by championing the music, presenting concerts, and nurturing relationships with Fela and his sons Femi and Seun, who now carry the Afrobeat torch.
- KCRW DJ Garth Trinidad

Hear the original version of the track “Tell Me” and the remix below.

Day by Day Tell Me (Original) by Femi Kuti & Positive Force

Femi vs. KCRW Soundclash! Tell Me Remix by Jeremy Sole's feat. Ticklah

The Revolutionary Essence of Afrobeat: by Garth Trinidad

The Revolutionary Essence of Afrobeat
by Garth Trinidad

The revolutionary essence of Afrobeat music is rooted deeply in the Kuti family legacy. Although crowned and revered as "godfather" of the genre, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was inspired by a rich West African musical heritage and middle class upbringing marked by his parents impressive achievements, influential people, places, trends, and the raw, fortifying funk of James Brown. Since the genre's inception in the late 1960's, KCRW played a critical role by championing the music, presenting concerts, and nurturing relationships with Fela and his sons Femi and Seun, who now carry the Afrobeat torch.

Born into a politically active Nigerian family in 1938, Fela was raised by a feminist activist mother who won the Lenin Peace Prize, and a father who's Christian ministry was considered outspoken and radical at the time. By the late 1950's,Fela was exhibiting signs of classic Preacher's Kid syndrome. When his parents sent him to London for enrollment into medical school, he attended the Trinity College of Music instead! By 1961, Fela was recording and performing with his band Koola Lobitos, heavily influenced by West African Highlife music, the soundtrack to funky youth culture in the UK and West Africa.

Fast forward to 1969 - Fela arrived in Los Angeles and hooked up with the Black Panther Party. With an electrified new outlook on life, politics, and music, he returned to Lagos. With drummer Tony Allen, they became the architects of Afrobeat music. After creating a sovereign state called the Kalakuta Republic, Fela used the music as a vehicle to inspire African consciousness, ridicule governments, tour the world, and become one of the most beloved, and most despised performers, artists, and revolutionaries of the 20th century. Of his many offspring, it is Fela's oldest and youngest sons, Femi and Seun, who have been most instrumental recording and performing Afrobeat music worldwide.

KCRW's first ever "presents" concert was a Fela Kuti show at the Olympic Auditorium in 1986, when then music director Tom Schnabel held the keys to the global music vanguard. Ever since, Afrobeat has been a favored genre among KCRW music personalities, and the station has presented Femi countless times at venues like the Hollywood Bowl, while supporting the efforts of rising star Seun. Most recently, KCRW's new music director Jason Bentley curated a special project to follow up Femi's latest release, "Day By Day". Appropriately titled "Femi Kuti vs KCRW Soundclash", the project features KCRW DJ remixes of various Femi Kuti songs, for release on Downtown Records. As the Kuti legacy continues, KCRW will continue its support, steady rocking Afrobeat with reckless abandon!

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