Nigerian icon and Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti passed away 15 years ago, but to this day his legacy lives on across the globe with his still-relevant, forthright political views and powerful music. The complete works of Fela, consisting of almost 50 albums, are now being re-packaged by Knitting Factory Records, with in-depth track commentaries written by Afrobeat historian Chris May (whose Afrobeat Diaries are a must read for all Fela and afrobeat fans), and prepared for a three-batch re-launch between March and September 2013.

The re-release programme will be spearheaded on 4 March 2013 by the release of The Best Of The Black President 2, a 2CD collection with foreword written by Senegalese-American R&B/hip-hop artist Akon. The twelve tracks (none under 10 minutes) include 1975's Everything Scatter, probably one of the ultimate Afrobeat tracks, as well as an extended version of the classic Sorrow Tears and Blood, inspired by the South African apartheid regime's crushing of the Soweto uprising in 1976. Fela recounts stories such as police having unsuccessfully attempted to charge Fela for possession of weed (Expensive Shit) and speaks out about the practise of skin-bleaching among Nigerian women (Yellow Fever). Fela's final period of recording is covered too with 1992's Underground System (Part 2), inspired by Fela's friend, Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara and his assassination. A special deluxe edition of The Best Of The Black President 2 also includes a DVD of Fela's legendary 1984 Glastonbury concert.



In his introduction Akon writes: "Despite everything they threw at him, Fela's music and his message never lost their way. He was always real and he was always with the people. That's why we love and miss him all the more."

Fela was very vocal in his views, with biting, acerbic critiques of European cultural imperialism, corrupt African governments and any forms of social injustice. This did not go down well with Nigeria's military regimes during the 70s and 80s who routinely harassed and brutalised Fela and his supporters. Two hundred arrests and serious beatings that left scars all over his body whilst fighting for those who had 'drawn life's short straw' never stopped him from coming forward again and again. "Ah well, they didn't kill me," he would say. On 2 August 1997 Fela died - and a million people, the people he fought for, came to his funeral in Lagos to pay their last respects.

Akon, who grew up on Fela's music, believes "Fela's political beliefs were ahead of their time in so many ways, not least in their global vision. Today, the most influential protest movements – the environmental campaigners, the Occupy activists – have global perspectives ... It is a risky business attributing opinions to people who have passed, but it's safe to say that Fela would almost certainly have stood alongside today's environmental and economic activists, and that he would just as certainly have approved of their global outlook."

And Afrobeat, the music Fela created, didn't die. Fela's sons, Femi Kuti with his band Positive Force and Seun Kuti with Fela's band Egypt 80, both travel the world, performing, releasing albums and keeping the flame burning brightly. But it's not just Nigerian Afrobeat artists who make sure Afrobeat can be heard all over the planet: there are now in excess of 50 Afrobeat bands operating in Europe, the United States, Britain, Japan and Australia.