Music must awaken people to do their duty as citizens and act.
Fela KutiRead
The music of Africa is big sound: it's the sound of a community
Interpretation
Fela Kuti emphasizes the communal nature of African music as a representation of collective identity and expression.
This quote by Fela Kuti highlights the importance of community in African music, suggesting that it is not just an individual art form but a representation of collective experiences, culture, and identity. The 'big sound' signifies the vibrant and holistic expression that emerges from unity and shared experiences within a community, portraying music as a vital medium for storytelling and connection among people.
In practice
Using this quote in a speech about the cultural significance of music in African societies.
Music must awaken people to do their duty as citizens and act.
The rhythm, the sounds, the tonality, the chord sequences, the individual effect of each instrument and each section of the band - I'm talking about a whole continent in my music.
I'm playing deep African music.
The art, the greatness of the music, the experience of the music is what I'm about. I think most African artists have destroyed their artistry by commercialization, and I don't want to belong to that bag.
The human spirit is stronger than any government or institution.
My message was 'Think African. Make schools read African history.'
The Arts are man's most useless ... and essential ... activity.
A composition is always more than the sum of its parts. In other words, a really good piece of music is more than itself. It's sort of like a prism, which you can see from each facet a single totality.
I've learned a lot of things about myself through singing. I used to have a certain dislike of the audience, not as individual people, but as a giant body who was judging me. Of course, it wasn`t really them judging me. It was me judging me. Once I got past that fear, it freed me up, not just when I was performing but in other parts of my life.
I find with records, they become what they're going to become. They take on a power and a direction of their own. Part of making records is to honor that and not try to force it.
I'm not about either entertaining or instructing. The entertaining and instructing are secondary fallout from the fundamental thing, which is basically to create an aesthetic object.
Whenever I play recitals, the part where I talk about music and my experiences of music, audiences always like it. They feel more involved with an artist who talks to them. It's a nice experience for me as well.
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