Fela Kuti: Fear No Man

De: Jad Abumrad

Narrado por: Jad Abumrad

In a world that’s on fire, what is the role of art? What can music actually…do?

Can a song save a life? Change a law? Topple a president? Get you killed?

In Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, Jad Abumrad—creator of Radiolab, More Perfect, and Dolly Parton's America—tells the story of one of the great political awakenings in music: how a classically trained 'colonial boy' traveled to America, in search of Africa, only to return to Nigeria and transform his sound into a battering ram against the state—creating a new musical language of resistance called Afrobeat.

For years, the world’s biggest stars made pilgrimages to Nigeria to experience Fela’s Shrine, the epicenter of his musical revolution. But when the mix of art and activism got too hot, the state pulled out its guns, and literally opened fire.

Fela Kuti: Fear No Man is an uncategorizable mix of oral history, musicology, deep dive journalism, and cutting edge sound design that takes listeners deep inside Fela’s life, music, and legacy.

Drawing from over 200 interviews with Fela Kuti’s family, friends, as well as scholars, activists, and luminaries like Burna Boy, Paul McCartney, Questlove, Santigold, and former President Barack Obama (just to name a few), Fela Kuti: Fear No Man journeys deep into the soul of Afrobeat to explore the transformative power of art and the role artists can play in this current moment of global unrest.

An Audible Original presented by Audible and Higher Ground. Produced by Western Sound and Talkhouse

©2025 Higher Ground, LLC (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC.

Music History

Power story of how music shapes our lives.
Loved learning about the journey of this “new to me” musician and activist.

Impact

His past and its impact on him, his present and its impact/influence on others, and his direct/indirect impact on future generations

Music speaks to the future

Fela Kuti is a legend. This spoken story brings his story to a new generation with his music and his struggles in technicolor.

Fela’s legacy

Loved learning more about Fela’s life and his legacy.
Enjoyed the interviews with his children and finally giving a voice to the wives. Enjoyed learning about his mother’s legacy in Abeokuta. Hated the way Fela and his band and family were maltreated by the Nigerian government but glad this podcast featured these stories and didn’t hesitate to air the truth!

Fela Kuti Lives Again!

I thought I knew a lot about Fela Kuti, but this podcast taught me so much. The series takes you deep into Fela's origin story, his weaknesses as well as his brilliance, the people who knew him, the women who formed him, the evolution of his sound, the power of music and how it aligns with social justice movements, the impact Fela had during his life and continues to have today.

Jad and his team take you on a wild journey that thrusts you into Fela's world, in such a personal way that you also feel part of the story. I couldn't wait to get my earbuds in every day to listen to another episode, and when I finished I listened again.