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.'
My music is mostly for the music. And it gives the liberty to do anything which I want. And nobody limits me to one genre of music. But I learn from life and I try to give back to life, in a way, whether it's the thought of the song or whether it's the approach to the arrangement or anything.
The story was writing itself and I was having a hard time keeping up with it.
The pleasure of making things beautiful or useful involves your feelings as well as your thinking. When your original sketch evolves into a tangible, three-dimensional object, your heart is anxiously following the process of your work. And the love involved in making it is conveyed to those for whom you made it.
Once in awhile, there's stuff that makes me say, That's what theatre's about. It has to be a human event on the stage, and that doesn't happen very often.
Jazz is the type of music that can absorb so many things and still be jazz.
I started out on photography accidentally. A policeman came to a stop at the end of my street, and a guy knifed him at the end of my street. That's how I became a photographer. I photographed the gangs that I went to school with.
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