Released: 27/10/23
It’s a rare thing indeed for a tribute album to get its own anniversary repress – but then Red Hot + Fela is not your common or garden example, putting as it does the back catalogue of the undisputed King of Afrobeat at the disposal of an inspiring, heterogeneous cohort of lauded artists. And what’s more, it’s all for the charity Red Hot, a not-for-profit dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture (Kuti himself passed away in 1997 from complications related to AIDS). And so, as a mere taster of the good stuff inside, we find ‘Lady’ recorded by tUnE-yArDs, ?uestlove, Angelique Kidjo, and Akua Naru; ‘Who No Know Go No’ reimagined by Childish Gambino and Just a Band; ‘Zombie’ recorded by Spoek Mathambo, Cerebral Cortex, and Frown; and ‘Sorrow, Tears & Blood’ reworked by the Kronos Quartet along with TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone and Tunde Adembimpe. An incredible tribute to a legendary artist, and a force of nature – Kuti was arrested some 356 times for his political dissidence – Red Hot + Fela is an indisputable classic.