Fela Kuti - Fear Not for Man

Fela Kuti's Fear Not for Man packs two long, simmering Afrobeat workouts onto one LP, with a digital download card included.

Released in 1977, the same year soldiers stormed Fela's Kalakuta Republic compound in Lagos, the album captures the Nigerian bandleader and his band Africa 70 in a defiant frame of mind. By then Fela had built Afrobeat into a fearless blend of highlife, funk, jazz and traditional Yoruba rhythms, using extended grooves as a platform for political commentary and biting social satire.

Fear Not for Man is the centrepiece, a slow-building epic where interlocking guitars, chattering percussion and a stabbing horn section gradually lock into a hypnotic groove before Fela steps in with his message of courage in the face of oppression. The call-and-response vocals land like a rallying cry.

Palm Wine Sound, the instrumental on the flip, loosens the tension with a looser, sunnier mood, giving the band room to stretch out and trade riffs. It sounds like a party spilling out onto the street.

Two tracks might sound modest on paper, but each one rewards patient listening as the layers pile up. For anyone exploring Fela's huge catalogue, this is a potent, focused entry point and a reminder of how much power music can carry.