Fela Kuti - Ikoyi Blindness LP Knitting Factory Records

Product code: KFR2017-3
 Fela used the cover of ‘Ikoyi Blindness’ to announce
his change of middle name from Ransome, which he
now considered a slave name, to Anikulapo, which
means ‘he who carries death in his pouch.’ The front
cover shows Ransome crossed out and Anikulapo
added above it.
 Fela also used the album cover to announce the
Africanisation of Africa 70’s name, changing it to Afrika
70. In the title track, Fela draws attention to the
economic chasm separating the haves and have-nots
of Nigerian society, contrasting the get-rich-at-all-costs
mindset of the residents of the prosperous Lagos
suburb Ikoyi with the more community-minded attitude
of the poor inhabitants of the Mushin, Maroko,
Ajegunle and Somolu neighbourhoods. Ikoyi residents
are blind to the sufferings of less fortunate people, said
Fela.
 Fela returns to the topic on the second track, ‘Gba Mi
Leti Ki N’Dolowo (Slap Me Make I Get Money)’. In
Lagos in 1975 and 1976, there had been an upsurge in
police and military personnel assaults on people in the
street; motorists were commonly pulled out of their
vehicles and given a whipping for minor traffic
offenses. Scandalously, the police and soldiers were
being allowed to get away with corruption in broad
daylight. In the lyric, Fela demands that the judiciary
administer the law equally, without fear or favour.
 LP pressed on iresi (opaque white) vinyl housed in a
single sleeve jacket.

Tracklisting: 

1. Ikoyi Blindness

2. Gba Mi Leti Ki N’Dolowo (Slap Me Make I Get Money)

.

Label: Knitting Factory Records

Format: Vinyl LP

Release Date: February 23rd, 2024

Brand Knitting Factory Records
Condition New
Product Code KFR2017-3
Weight 0.18kg