Arrest the Music!: Fela and His Rebel Art and Politics

by Tejumola Olaniyan

"Olaniyan has given us a profound and beautifully integrated book which culminates in a persuasive interpretation of the relationship between Fela's apparently incompatible presentational selves. . . . The book's accessible and evocative prose is in itself a kind of homage to Fela's continual ability to seduce and astonish. . . . This is such an attractive book you feel like . . . ransacking your collection for Fela tapes." ―Karin Barber

" . . . an indispensable companion to Fela's music and a rich source of information for studies in modern African popular music." ―Akin Euba

Arrest the Music! is a lively musical study of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, one of Africa's most recognizable, popular, and controversial musicians. The flamboyant originator of the "Afrobeat" sound and self-proclaimed voice of the voiceless, Fela used music, sharp-tongued lyrics, and derisive humor to challenge the shortcomings of Nigerian and postcolonial African states. Looking at the social context, instrumentation, lyrics, visual art, people, and organizations through which Fela produced his music, Tejumola Olaniyan offers a wider, more suggestive perspective on Fela and his impact on listeners in all parts of the world.

Placing Fela front and center, Olaniyan underscores important social issues such as authenticity, racial and cultural identity, the relationship of popular culture to radical politics, and the meaning of postcolonialism, nationalism, and globalism in contemporary Africa. Readers interested in music, culture, society, and politics, whether or not they know Fela and his music, will find this work invaluable for understanding the career of an African superstar and the politics of popular culture in contemporary Africa.

African Expressive Cultures―Patrick McNaughton, general editor

Genres: Music, Africa, Nonfiction, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Tejumola Olaniyan was a Nigerian academic. He was the Louise Durham Mead professor of English, and African languages, and literature, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Olaniyan has approximately 35 of his works in over 100 publications, and all in one language.

Reviews

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

My classmates may hate me for this, but I think that it was just a lot of words...the problem with most books on Fela is that no one really knows what he was about. He didn't let anyone in. Arrest The Music! was written with too much authority. I love Fela, don't get me wrong, but the book was just too academic for such a dearth of info.

[Akintunde · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking to do a research in Afrobeat as a music genre or researching into Fela's form of Afrobeat, a music genre created by the legend, then, this book is for you.
The book didn't offer much into the background, life and family of Fela. There were bits here and there but nothing big enough to quench my thirst for a concise and revealing biography of Fela. Reason why I got the book in the first place.
There were too many technical terms and ambiguous English words(I think) used in the book.
I practically crawled through the book like a load was placed on my shoulders.
With all of its textbook feel, Tejumola Olaniyan's Arrest the music helped me to understand the style and birth of Afrobeat.
I am definitely not picking this book up to read again unless I have a research on Afrobeat( which is very unlikely)
To the music scholars out there, this book might help you get a feel of the Afrobeat music and its originator.
I only ventured into it because of the excitement a man like Fela had created. I didn't get to read all of those. The book wasn't written for that.

[Win Scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

OLANIYAN ATTEMPTS TO FUSE AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF FELA KUTI'S POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES WITH CLOSE READINGS OF PARTICULAR SONGS WITH MUCH SUCCESS. THE CHAPTERS CAREFULLY CHART FELA'S GROWTH FROM A HIGHLIFE PLAYING HIPSTER, TO AN OUTSPOKEN PEDAGOGUE AGAINST COLONIAL MENTALITY WITHIN THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK, HOWEVER LATER CHAPTERS, SUCH AS HIS LACANIAN MIRROR ANALYSIS BECOME CLOUDED WITH JARGON AND REPETITIVE. FURTHERMORE OLANIYAN REPEATEDLY USES THE SAME SONGS TO EXPOUND ON DIFFERENT POINTS. A LOT OF THIS WORK COULD HAVE BEEN EDITED OUT DUE TO UNNECESSARY REPETITIONS OF THEMES AND EXAMPLES. THE BIOGRAPHICAL AND ANECDOTAL INFORMATION MAKES IT WORTHWHILE TO PLOW THROUGH IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN FELA'S PERSONALITY AND CONTRADICTIONS.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found the text to be a good biography of his evolution as a person & artist. Many of the essays here warranted the reader to look more deeply into his controversial artistry.