Thursday, June 24, 2010

Quote of the Day- Fela Kuti (Late Nigerian Afrobeat Star)




Today's quote featuring 32 people, alive or dead, from the 32 countries in The World Cup is from the late, great Nigerian Afrobeat singer/musican/political activist Fela Kuti (1938-1997).

Kuti was a major influence on David Byrne and his band (the) Talking Heads, especially on their hit song "Once in a Lifetime." In addition the Afro-beat pioneer was a featured artist at the 1986 Amnesty International concert in New York.

He lived both a very tragic and a very interesting life as he was once married to 27 women (!), but he died of AIDS-complications.

Kuti was also a political radical who supported The Black Panther Party and that lead to his own social rebellion in Nigeria. He made the hit 1977 record "Zombie" which was politically focused on the oppressive nature of the Nigerian military.

His music can still be heard frequently today as it was featured on the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed independent film "The Visitor" (2007).

As for the Nigerian soccer team, they had a difficult World Cup with losses to Argentina and Greece, but they tied South Korea 2-2 in their final game.

Here is the quote from Kuti, which is unsurprisingly an overt political one in nature:

"In Nigeria they convict by law, not by the truth."

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