As the band rocks from one to the other, an immersive, irresistible forward-motion is created.

Many of the Fela’s songs are based on just two chords. Second, female backing vocalists respond to Fela’s lead vocals in what was soon to become Africa70’s trademark call-and-response pattern. Rhythm guitarist Tutu Shorunmuis locked in tandem with tenor guitarist Segun Edo, and the pair’s symbiotic, repetitive interplay, equal parts melody and rhythm, plays a similar role to rhythm and mi-solo guitars in contemporary Congolese rumba… This made his lyrics comprehensive to non-Yoruba speakers throughout the region and his growing audience in Britain and the US.įela’s arrangement of “Sakara (shakara) Olojie” displays two of mature Afrobeat’s signature ingredients.

In future, Fela would sing many of his songs in broken English, the lingua franca of Anglophone west Africa. The original sleeve notes provided an English-language translation. The essence of Fela’s message is that empty vessels make the loudest noise. In the brief but powerful lyric, Fela ridicules loudmouths and braggarts. It includes strong solos from Fela on keyboards and Igo Chico on tenor saxophone. Up-tempo, with a characteristically turbulent horn arrangement, “Sakaha (shakara) Olojie” is a mainly-instrumental track. A two-track set comprising “Sakara (shakara) Olojie” and “Lady”, it marks the transition of Afrobeat from its late 1960s foetal stage to something approaching its full-grown form. With the 1971 LP Shakara, Fela and Africa 70 enjoyed one of their biggest early hits. Short story of the Sakara (Shakara) Olojie

Fela kuti shakara