Fela Kuti

Fifteen years after his death, the musical legacy of Fela Kuti — the king of Afrobeat — continues to thrive. A living legend while he was alive, his music has been influential to scores of musicians worldwide. This begs the question: how does one distil the musical output of a man who has released more than 70 scorching albums of politically-charged jazz-funk over the course of his decades-long career into a two-disc "best of" collection? Knitting Factory undertook this daunting task in 2009 when it issued the first edition of Best of the Black President. Four years later, the second volume has been compiled, hoping to fill in some of the gaps. Similar to its predecessor, the tracks on this release span the artist's career, but are presented with musical flow in mind, rather than chronological order. This fact, along with the inclusion of some classic cuts ("Expensive Shit," "Black Man's Cry" and "Underground System"), makes this record a perfect entry point for initiates to the cult of Fela.