Fela Kuti: Zombie, No Agreement, Shuffering And Shmlling (Celluloid)

ALTHOUGH HE is virtually unknown in the United States, Fela Kuti of Nigeria is the most dangerous musician in the world. For two decades, Fela has lived by the motto MUSIC IS THE WEAPON OF THE FUTURE, recording a half dozen albums each year that document the corruption and inhumanity of the Nigerian government. Writing, producing and arranging his own recordings, in addition to singing and playing saxophone and keyboards, he invented a hybrid of African and American styles dubbed Afro-Beat. It's not pretty the way much African music is, but the coarse pulse carries Fela's rage. Although a shortage of raw materials in Nigeria had already limited the singer's ability to put out records, the government jailed him in the fall of 1984 on a dubious charge of currency smuggling.