Fela Kuti is more famous today than ever – what’s behind his global power

The cast of the Broadway musical Fela! perform in Lagos.& Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images Alaba Ilesanmi, Florida State University Almost three decades after his passing in 1997, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the legendary Nigerian musician and activist who created the Afrobeat music movement, remains the subject of global obsession. The self-proclaimed “Black President” is everywhere, like an omnipresent deity. His presence is felt, and his legacy is honored, through contemporary showcases from Lagos to London, Bonn to Brazil. Among his many afterlife manifestations are reissues of his music, like the 2024 Fela Vinyl Box Set #6 curated by British actor and DJ Idris Elba; the display of his life, activism and music at the Rébellion Afrobeat exhibition in Paris in 2022-23; the inclusion of his most famous song Zombie in US rap star Jay-Z’s Songs for Survival playlist for the 2016 Black Lives Matter protests; the 2014 documentary Finding Fela by US Oscar-winner Alex Gibney; and his 2008 revival in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fela!. Fela’s 1969 album The ’69 Los Angeles Sessions marks the beginning of Afrobeat, a genre that has further kept his legacy alive, with contemporary Afrobeat bands emerging from Brazil to Japan. It continues to be a...