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This week it was announced that he is one of the musicians who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2026. He is being honored in the category of"musical influence." The Hall of Fame paid this tribute:"Fela Kuti was a revolutionary voice who spoke out against injustice through his innovative music — provoking political change while infusing jazz, West African and soul music to pioneer the Afrobeat genre.
" He has long been acclaimed by his fellow African artists."Fela Kuti's music was a fearless voice of Africa — its rhythms carried truth, resistance and freedom, inspiring generations of African musicians to speak boldly through sound," says the legendary Senegalese singer Youssou N' Dour. Nicknamed the"Black President" for his role as a political and cultural leader, Fela is one of the rarified artists who's recognized by a single name. He saw huge success as a pioneer of the Afrobeat genre, with its multilayered and shifting syncopation, psychedelic horns and chants. He was never nominated for a Grammy during his lifetime — although his musician sons, Femi and Seun, and grandson Made, have received eight nominations collectively.Fela embraced a massive sound. His band often swelled to more than 30 members and featured two bass guitars and two baritone saxophones. He himself played saxophone, keyboards, guitar, drums and trumpet . His emphasis on complex polyrhythms and the inclusion of traditional African instruments like the talking drum were revolutionary at the time — a rebellion against the dominance of Western pop and a marked effort to forge a post-colonial African identity. From the start of his career, Fela aimed to reach a larger and Pan-African audience by singing almost exclusively in Nigerian Pidgin English . He did not play by the rules of the music biz. He expressed disdain for party tunes and love songs. He'd release as many as seven albums in a single year. And he refused to perform songs live once they'd been recorded.BCUC from Soweto, South Africa, the incendiary live band and 2023 winner of the WOMEX Artist Award, sent a statement to NPR:"Fela is our spiritual muse and if he didn't pursue music without boundaries of song length and speaking his truth — even when it was putting his life in danger — we wouldn't have had the guts to be ourselves without fear or favor."During a 10-month stay in Los Angeles in 1969, Fela befriended members of the Black Panther Party. Afterward, his music grew political. He became an outspoken opponent of Nigeria's military dictatorship and of South African apartheid. The year following his 1976 album Zombie's scathing indictment of the Nigerian government, The New York Times reported that a force comprising 1,000 Nigerian military members burned Fela's Lagos home and recording compound . Fela was beaten unconscious, and his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was thrown from an upstairs window and later died from the resulting injuries. That album, Zombie, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame last year, becoming only the fourth record by an African artist among the 1,165 releases. In 1979, Fela unsuccessfully ran for president of Nigeria. His political activism added to his high profile — and controversial history. He was arrested many times by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's military junta, including at Lagos airport while departing for a U.S. tour. He was sentenced to five years in prison and held for over a year. Amnesty International classified him as a"prisoner of conscience." Fela was freed only after the Buhari regime was overthrown in August 1985.Fela succumbed to complications from AIDS in 1997. His older brother, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, a pediatrician and AIDS activist who served as health minister for Nigeria, spread the word that Fela's death was AIDS-related. According to Ransome-Kuti, Fela had believed that"all doctors were fabricating AIDS, including myself." Following that news, one of the nation's largest daily papers reported that condom sales surged in Nigeria. Fela's passing marked a turning point in bringing greater consciousness about the epidemic across Africa. It is estimated that over one million people attended his funeral.Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti , was released in 2002, featuring such artists as Sade, D'Angelo, Nile Rodgers, Questlove and Taj Mahal. Profits went to organizations working to raise AIDS awareness. And in 2009, Jay-Z and Will Smith producedRachel Getting Married, Twisters ) and lead singer for Grammy-nominated band TV on the Radio, told NPR:"Fela for me is the chapter heading in my musical education. He is the originator who showed us music as a power move calling out corruption. Music that questions your psyche and health, worries for your ecosystem, gut checks your self-worth and pride, and keeps you lifted. And it moves nyash ." Four-time Grammy-nominated Malian singer Salif Keita puts it this way:"Brother Fela was a great influence for my music. I loved him very much. He was a brave man. His legacy is undisputed."Tinariwen, Parchman Prison Prayer, The Good Ones, West Virginia Snake Handler Revival ) who has recorded over 50 records by international artists across five continents. He is the author of 10 books. His latest is "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," installation view, on display at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles through Aug. 23.From a daylong festival at the Natural History Museum to an exhibition of art made from living materials at the Hammer Museum, there’s lots to learn about sustainability at L.A. museums this Earth Month.The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and landmark legislation like the Clean Air Act. In the years since, it's expanded to Earth Month, with schools, governments and organizations — including museums — using it as a way to spark conversations about protecting the environment.The first Earth Day, in April 1970, led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and landmark legislation like the Clean Air Act. In the years since, it's expanded to Earth Month, with schools, governments and organizations — including museums — using it as a way to spark conversations about protecting the environment.It invites visitors to rethink ideas of permanence and humanity's place in nature, through sculptures, paintings and collages made by 22 artists from across the Americas, including some based here in Los Angeles. A view of Carmen Argote's "an archetype of stillness" and "an archetype of touch" paintings in the Hammer Museum's "Several Eternities in a Day" exhibition.L.A.-based Mexican American artist Carmen Argote's paintings — titled"an archetype of stillness" and"an archetype of touch" — are among the works that first catch your attention upon entering the exhibition. The pair of 16-foot-tall human-like figures that Argote painted — without brushes — by dipping her hands and feet in a mixture of avocado, cochineal dye and lemon juice, will change color throughout the length of the exhibition as the avocado continues to dry, release oil and eventually disintegrates the paper they were painted on. " This piece has taught me so much about letting go," Argote told LAist."And really accepting the life of a material and life of an artwork." "Cuerpos terrestres en fluidez" by Jackie Amézquita in "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials" at the Hammer Museum.Another work, titled"Cuerpos terrestres en fluidez" by L.A.-based artist Jackie Amézquita consists of a set of sculptures that Amézquita built using the rammed earth technique and then split into fragments. The materials she used included decomposed granite from the Mojave Desert, lava rocks, obsidian, rain and ocean water. “There's this idea that we have of nature to not be permanent when it's actually older than us,” Amézquita noted. The questions that her and other artists’ use of organic materials raise about permanence or impermanence, Amézquita told LAist, “is just an echo to what life is.” “That is part of our human condition,” she explained. “We’re always confronted with the idea of life and death.” Her artistic practice, Amézquita added, is also about “ reminding us that we are part of the land, that we are soil, that our bodies are made of earth and also earth is made out of us. And so our footprint, or the decisions we make, has a ripple effect.”Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines , a new immersive exhibition centered around the ecological wisdom of the rice cultivation practices of the indigenous Ifugao people in the Philippines. ”We focus on rice because rice became this foundation for the Ifugao resistance against Spanish conquest, and they used rice to be able to consolidate their political and economic resources,” says Stephen Acabado, professor of anthropology and director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UCLA. The exhibition is split into three galleries. In one gallery, visitors can see a time-lapsed video of the landscape that places into context the Ifugao mountain spirits and the indigenous belief system. Paired with the videos are wooden carvings of the bulul, or rice guardians, and fabrics that represent Ifugao deities.A second gallery pairs rituals and tools that the Ifugao use for rice cultivation with videos showing them in practice. And the third gallery examines how the higher ranking Ifugao members keep the community alive through sustaining rituals. ”What we're seeing now, especially with climate change, looking at how they cared for the land for at least 400 years, sustainable form of agricultural production … will give us at least an idea on how we can adapt their practices for food security and care for the environment,” Acabado says. Beyond sustainable practices, Acabado hopes the exhibition can dispel the idea the Philippines is a monolith and also strengthen a sense of identity for Filipinos. “Although we’re focusing on the Ifugao,” Acabado says, “the exhibit wants to highlight the diversity of the Philippines.”LACMA’s newly opening Geffen Galleries are getting a lot of attention at the moment, but don’t overlook the nearby Craft Contemporary museum, which is also worth checking out : A weeklong event that features air-clay activities and a market where artisans will sell their ceramic creations. This event runs from April 24-26.: A group exhibition that reflects on time through artists’ works made from fiber, wood, bronze, terracotta and earth. The exhibition is ongoing until Aug. 1.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.The Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown L.A., where many local eviction cases are handled, is one of the nation’s busiest trial courts.Starting Thursday, some Los Angeles County renters will be allowed to fall behind by about two months' worth of rent and still have local protections from eviction.Citing economic fallout from federal immigration raids, the county Board of Supervisors recently voted to let tenants rack up more rent debt before landlords can evict them. Until now, renters have been allowed to fall behind by one month’s worth of fair-market rent, a level that is set by the federal government. The new ruleThe new rent-debt rules apply only to tenants living in unincorporated parts of L.A. County, such as East L.A., City Terrace and Altadena. Details on local fair-market rents, which vary depending on how many bedrooms an apartment contains, can bethat would have applied countywide. But landlords said even the more limited two-month rule unfairly burdens property owners and likely will lead to tougher tenant screening. Garrett Lee, of Department of Mental Health's HOME Team, collaborates with LAHSA’s Homeless Engagement Team during outreach in the targeted COVID-19 testing efforts in the homeless community, April, 2020.In what could be a major change in oversight of L.A. homelessness spending, the City Council’s homelessness committee is recommending the city start shifting some programs away from the L.A. Homeless Services Authority over the course of the upcoming fiscal year. Which programs and who would oversee them remains to be seen.in response to multiple audits that found LAHSA failed to properly track and manage billions of homelessness dollars. Officials are also warning homelessnessOn Wednesday, the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee voted to recommend multiple changes to city homelessness spending, including a recommendation to shift management of some city programs away from LAHSA during the next fiscal year that starts July 1. Another recommendation advanced by the committee is to pursue negotiations to give the city “a clear majority” in the governance and decision-making control at LAHSA.In what could be a major change in oversight of L.A. homelessness spending, the City Council’s homelessness committee is recommending the city start shifting some programs away from the L.A. Homeless Services Authority over the course of the upcoming fiscal year. Which programs and who would oversee them remains to be seen.in response to multiple audits that found LAHSA failed to properly track and manage billions of homelessness dollars. Officials are also warning homelessnesson LAHSA’s part in reimbursing service providers for their work. The committee’s chair, Councilmember Nithya Raman, describes LAHSA as “plagued with scandal” in her mayoral platform. On Wednesday, the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee voted to recommend multiple changes to city homelessness spending, including a recommendation by Raman to shift management of some city programs away from LAHSA during the next fiscal year that starts July 1. Another recommendation advanced by the committee, which was proposed by Councilmember Tim McOsker, is to pursue negotiations to give the city “a clear majority” in the governance and decision-making control at LAHSA — including over federal funding meant for 84 other cities in L.A. County. Currently, LAHSA’s governing commission is split 50-50 between city and county appointees. Starting next year, the city will be by far the largest funder of LAHSA. The recommendations call for city officials to send the council a report by July 1 analyzing which city programs make sense to shift away from LAHSA and instead be managed by the county, the city or another entity. If approved by the council, $450,000 would be budgeted to hire consultants to advise the city about the funding shift, and city officials would be directed to update the council every 30 days about the transition.Mayor Karen Bass has expressed concern that moving too quickly to shift funds from LAHSA could harm services for unhoused people. That concern was echoed at Wednesday’s committee meeting by Gita O’Neill, who is serving as LAHSA CEO during a year-long leave from being an attorney at the city attorney’s office. “ I would just ask this committee to take their time to look at the issues. Sometimes when things are rushed and hurried, unfortunately our unhoused folks fall through the cracks,” O’Neill said. “Seeing it go really quickly, sometimes things can get lost, sometimes contracts can get lost.” Councilmember Heather Hutt, who is on the council’s homelessness committee, said Wednesday she does not support shifting spending yet to the county or in-house. “It's too premature, too early and too rushed,” Hutt said. “Given the actions of the county and the federal government, we need to make sure our system is stabilized over the next two years before we think about what a longer transition looks like.” She voted against Raman’s recommendations to start shifting funding over the next fiscal year, and voted for McOsker’s recommendations to try to beef up city control of LAHSA. The full City Council is expected to decide on the recommendations at a future meeting. Regardless of what the city does, all of the county’s funding of services through LAHSA will be pulled as of July 1 and moved to full county control.
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