TITLE: No Place For My Dream
LABEL: Knitting Factory
Femi Kuti, Fela’s eldest son, isn’t the keeper of the flame: that’s the role of youngest son Seun, who fronts his late father’s still-awesome Egypt 80 band. Rather, Femi is the trailblazer – he left Fela’s band in the 80’s, fused Afrobeat with house music and collaborated with rappers in the 90’s and reemerged with a jazzier sound on 2008’s Day By Day and a fast, almost punk-like attack on 2011’s Africa For Africa. On this session Femi fully embraces his father’s political commitment (track 8 makes a point of borrowing from Fela’s “I.T.T.”), as every song here is thoroughly contemptuous of the powers-that-be in Nigeria and around the world. Some of his lyrics are a blunt instrument, but the directness is refreshing on songs like 2 where Femi flatly states “poverty is winning the game” or 10 which provides a handy list of Nigerian villains and asks each of them, “Where’s our money?” Track 3 is short, song-form Afrobeat at its finest, a worthy follow-up to “Truth Don Die” and “Can’t Buy Me.” And don’t miss 9, Femi’s summary of his father’s career and to my ears the culmination of this three-album cycle. This is a major work by a major worldwide artist; don't miss it.
TOP TRACKS: 2 3 8 9 10
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 1 4 5 6 7 11
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