Fela Kuti – I.T.T. (LP Vinyl)
Product Details
Fela Kuti recorded I.T.T. at one of the most dangerous moments of his life, when naming names meant real consequences. The Egypt 80 band he assembled after Afrika 70's breakup was a leaner, more politically focused ensemble, and the two extended tracks here reflect that urgency, with Fela's alto saxophone and vocals delivering accusations against multinational power and Nigerian corruption with the force of a legal brief set to Afrobeat.
180gm vinyl LP pressing. I.T.T. International Thief Thief (1980) was recorded following Afrika 70's disintegration and the formation of Egypt 80. It is one of a quartet of courageous 1979/80 albums completed by V.I.P. (Vagabonds In Power), Authority Stealing and Coffin For Head Of State. In "International Thief Thief," Fela makes highly insulting, personal attacks on former Nigerian president General Obasanjo, and Moshood Abiola, the local chief executive of the multi-national corporations Internal Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) and Decca Records. Obasanjo Fela regarded as a crook, an incompetent and a thug, and held him responsible for the death of his mother following the 1977 sack of Kalakuta. Abiola, he believed, had both cheated him out of royalties and conspired with Decca's London bosses to silence him after the 1977 attack, in order to maintain favourable relations with Obasanjo's regime. Both men, Fela says, are "thieves," "rats" and of "low mentality."
Tracklist
Side A
Side B
UPC: 720841205111
Label: Partisan Records
Release Date: 10.14.16
Format: LP Vinyl