Fela Kutis Zombie Song and Clash with Nigerian Government Fact-Checked

Fela Kuti was never one to hold his tongue. Shirtless, cigarette in hand, he would dance onstage at his nightclub, the Shrine in Lagos, a crowd of band members behind him and a larger crowd of fans in front, as he performed his politically charged music each night. One song, however, was particularly severe in its critique of the Nigerian military he grew to despise — “Zombie”.

GROSS: So here's what I'd like to do, to give listeners who aren't familiar with Fela's music, I want to play something that will show the repetition, the layering, and then segue into his most political song that got him into the most trouble, which is called "Zombie." So to set it up, we're going to start with "Authority Stealing." And this will show you a very compressed version of the layering in his music. And imagine that - imagine each of those layers spreading out for, like, 5 minutes each or more. And then we'll segue into "Zombie." ... FELA KUTI: (Non-English language spoken).

"Ajay Kumar makes sense...Be like Ajay Kumar," was another by user Mishal Johar, who used the tag #Zombiewala (wala means someone with a specific job to undertake). While social media was having a laugh at Kumar's request, he told Huffington Post India, external that it was, in part, a protest against the inefficiency of politicians:

By 1977, Kuti was a prominent target ... Kuti pushed himself further into activism. While he released politically oriented works in the past, they paled compared to Zombie....

And when he sings, he sings about how the military and the army and the police are basically brainless zombies. GROSS: So Fela grows up in a postcolonial environment that still practices a lot of colonial values. His grandfather translated Anglican hymns into Yoruba, the Yoruba language, and Fela's mother and father had a school that basically followed the colonial education practices. And I want to talk a little bit about his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Because before Fela became political, she had a women's club which taught women Christian values and how to be a good Christian wife.

The story behind this album is really interesting, as the album was a political protest against the Nigerian government and their army. Hearing about the aftermath of this album is pretty shocking too.

In 1977, Kuti and Africa 70 released the album Zombie, which heavily criticized Nigerian soldiers, and used the zombie metaphor to describe the Nigerian military's methods. The album was a massive success and infuriated the government, who raided ...

The album was a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic (a commune that Kuti had established in Nigeria), during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune.

The song “Zombie” mocked the blind obedience of soldiers to their superiors and became an anthem for those opposing the authoritarian government. However, the government’s response was brutal, leading to the infamous raid on Fela’s Kalakuta ...