Fela Kuti - I.T.T. (180G VINYL LP PARTISAN 2016) | NEW Mint (M) Mint (M)

    I.T.T.
    (180 Gram Vinyl)
    Artist: Fela Kuti Format: LP Release Date: 10/14/2016 

    Label: Partisan Records
    Vendor: Isolation Network
    Distributor: AMPED
    UPC: 720841205111
    Genre: International
    Theme: Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Nominee
    Release Date: 10/14/2016
    Product ID: PASN12051.1
    Weight: .65 lb

LP
Description

180gm vinyl LP pressing. I.T.T. International Thief Thief (1980) was recorded following Afrika 70's disintegration and the formation of Egypt 80. It is one of a quartet of courageous 1979/80 albums completed by V.I.P. (Vagabonds In Power), Authority Stealing and Coffin For Head Of State. In "International Thief Thief," Fela makes highly insulting, personal attacks on former Nigerian president General Obasanjo, and Moshood Abiola, the local chief executive of the multi-national corporations Internal Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) and Decca Records. Obasanjo Fela regarded as a crook, an incompetent and a thug, and held him responsible for the death of his mother following the 1977 sack of Kalakuta. Abiola, he believed, had both cheated him out of royalties and conspired with Decca's London bosses to silence him after the 1977 attack, in order to maintain favourable relations with Obasanjo's regime. Both men, Fela says, are "thieves," "rats" and of "low mentality."

    Tracks
    Credits

    1 International Thief Thief, Pt. 1 - Fela Kuti
    2 International Thief Thief - Fela Kuti

Fela Kuti's records in the early and middle 1980s contain some of the most directly scathing remarks ever put to disc (notably, Original Suffer Head, Coffin for Head of State, and Authority Stealing). Sure, Ice-T, N.W.A., and Eminem have since been more pointedly offensive, but Fela deploys a smarter, slyer, and wittier approach to satire than anyone else. In I.T.T. (a play on the telecommunications company, International Telephone and Telegraph), he attacks two central characters that Fela calls out as thieves by name: President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo and Chairman of ITT and President of Decca Records, M.K.O. Abiola. Fela gets the jabbing started by describing how the British used to employ their African subjects to carry trailers full of excrement throughout the cities for disposal, then transposes the attack to Obasanjo and Abiola as they have forced their African subjects to carry their metaphorical sh*t of oppression, inflation, and corruption. He says, "We don't tire to carry anymore of them sh*t," while a rousing, call-to-arms chorus backs him up; Fela continues, "We go fight them well now." His methods were very dangerous, as his enemies were extremely powerful and his audience very receptive. For his actions, Fela would continue to be beaten and jailed throughout his life. Musically, I.T.T. is an average instrumental attack; however, average for Fela and Africa 70 is still quite above the watermark. [In 2000, MCA released I.T.T. as a two-fer with Original Suffer Head.] ~ Sam Samuelson

• Condition: NEW
• Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
• Media Condition: Mint (M)
• Format: Vinyl
• Internal ID: JITRE
• Format Detail: LP+ DL Card
• Genre: WORLD/AFRICAN
• Format Type: LP
• Handling Note: **Please allow an additional 72 hours for this item's shipment.**
• Released: 10/14/2016