MUSIC AS HISTORY: A STUDY OF FELA’S “WHY BLACK MAN DEY SUFFER” (1971)
Abstract
Using Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s seminal 1971 album Why Black Man Dey Suffer as a focal point, this paper highlights the powerful role of music as both a vehicle for historical knowledge and a tool for social critique. It explores how Fela employs music to illuminate and interrogate African traditional practices and enduring cultural realities. Influenced profoundly by Pan-Africanist figures such as Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver during his time in the United States, Fela harnessed music to project Africa’s rich and complex history onto the global stage. The songs in this album serve as incisive commentaries on the socio-cultural, political, and religious dynamics shaping Africa. Importantly, Fela’s work establishes a vital link between historical experiences and contemporary challenges, such as political corruption, social inequality, and cultural identity crises, that continue to confront Nigeria and the African continent today. This analysis affirms the enduring truth that the past persists and shapes present realities, making Fela’s music as relevant now as it was five decades ago in addressing ongoing struggles for justice, unity, and cultural preservation.