Podcast Summary: Fela Kuti: Fear No Man

Episode 6: The Queens
Host: Jad Abumrad for Higher Ground
Date: November 5, 2025

Overview

This episode centers on the often overlooked group of women known as the Afrobeat Queens, who were crucial to Fela Kuti’s musical, political, and personal legacy. Host Jad Abumrad, alongside scholars and firsthand voices—including surviving Queens themselves—explores how these women shaped Fela’s art and ideology, the unique culture of the Kalakuta Republic commune, and the immense cost they bore, both as creators and as the front line against government oppression. The episode wrestles openly with the complexity of Fela as a revolutionary and a deeply flawed man, raising questions about whose legacies get honored and how we reconsider artistic greatness.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Indispensable Role of the Queens

• Dotun Ayobadi (Assistant Professor, Northwestern; 01:04): “We wouldn’t have a Fela Kuti without the queens. I could say that in ten hundred ways.”

  • The Queens were not just backup singers or dancers, but co-creators—integral to the Afrobeat sound, the vibe of the Shrine, and the movement’s energy.
  • The interplay of Fela’s gruff vocal and the Queens’ crisp harmonies created a unique dynamic central to classic Afrobeat (“playful give and take”—02:25).
  • Performance as Power: Audiences were drawn as much to the women’s performances as to Fela himself (03:10).

• Visual and Sonic Liberation:

  • The Queens were known for bold makeup, shaved heads, topless dancing—defying social norms and creating a “whole new aesthetic of Black beauty. They embodied everything against beauty that I had learned. And yet they were beautiful.” —Ayo Adeburi (09:38)

2. Controversies and Erasure

• Despite their significance, the Queens have historically been erased from the Fela/Afrobeat story: “In the years since Fela’s death, they’ve basically been erased. And they’re not considered part of his legacy, part of what Afrobeat has become in the world.” —Jad Abumrad (04:57)
• Moral Backlash: Their choices, lifestyles, and relationships with Fela drew outsized moral scrutiny; the 1978 “mass wedding” of 27 wives was both a bold cultural statement and the start of a public controversy (08:03).

3. The Voices of the Surviving Queens

([05:48]–[14:01], [15:21]–[18:53])

• Interview with Laide, Lara (Lara Shosaya), and Chinyere
  • They express agency: “I joined him on my own. Nobody asked me to go there. Yes, I’m proud to say that.”—Laide (11:18)
  • All Queens affirm they chose to join Fela, saw themselves as workers (dancers, singers, DJs), and were paid for their contributions.
  • On Performance: Dancing was both livelihood and empowerment—audiences would “spray” (throw money to) dancers (12:28).

4. Motivation and Backgrounds

• The Queens’ personal stories illuminate why they joined Fela:
  • Laide: Wanted to escape strict, abusive, colonial-influenced discipline in her middle-class family; sought freedom and adventure (15:28).
  • Lara: Drawn by possibility for change and Fela’s music as “weapon” (17:30).
  • Chinyere: Sought freedom and belonging after being orphaned by the Biafran War; Fela’s commune became her sanctuary (18:01).

5. Historical Context: Post-Colonial Nigeria and Civil War

• The episode explores, with support from historian Moses Achunu, how British colonial policies created deep-seated ethnic divisions—eventually sparking the Biafran War. Chinyere’s own story of loss exemplifies the trauma and disillusionment of a generation in 1971, searching for new beginnings and meaning (21:24–24:16).
• Kalakuta Republic (Fela’s Commune): Just miles from military barracks and universities, Fela’s “microsociety” attracted misfits, runaways, and idealists. Ethnic identity was banned: “You are not allowed to identify by ethnicity” (27:42).

6. Life and Rules inside Kalakuta Republic ([28:59]–[34:54])

• Polyamory and Power: Both Fela and the Queens had partners inside and outside the commune; Fela was “a liberal lover” (29:26). Still, nobody could bring their outside boyfriend into the house.
• Yabis Culture: Insults (“yabis”) were encouraged—free expression, equal-opportunity mockery, but not falsehood (libel) (30:10–33:03).
• Justice and Abuse: Commune disputes ended in Fela presiding as judge, often sentencing “yabis fines,” cleaning—but, troublingly, also physical punishments.
  • Laide clarifies Fela would not hit the women himself, but would order his “boys” to beat offenders: “Two people will hold your hand. Two people will hold your legs, and they will be beating you…You see all the marks on your body.” (35:04)
  • Some outside voices (e.g., Chief Taiwo Lijadu) criticize Fela for exploiting his power: “People change sometimes because they cannot handle fame. Something eats their brains up…You don’t accuse the government of doing things to people and repeat the same thing and do worse. Became a tyrant.” (35:51)

7. The Cost: Violence from the State ([38:03]–[39:51])

• The Queens bear not only internal hardship but also public brutality—Lara lost her eye, Laide bears scars, from army/police attacks during raids.
  • “We will go through all this and people will say they don’t see us. We went through all this. They will say they don’t see us. Why would they not see us? With all the struggle we struggled with Fela. Fela cannot do it all alone…They can’t do it without us.” —Laide (38:53)
  • The Queens view themselves as “the front line of Fela’s army” and guardians of his vision (37:18, 37:26).

8. Aftermath, Abandonment, & Legacy

• The Queens feel forgotten—cut out from the Fela legacy, living with injury and poverty.
  • “I’m abandoned.” —Laide (39:51)
• Small gestures of inclusion (free entrance and meals at the Fela museum) mean a lot, but larger questions about justice and recognition remain.

9. Reconciling Greatness and Flaws

• Ayo Adeburi voices the discomfort of loving Fela’s art but being disturbed by parts of his story. Separating art from the artist feels “false… sometimes you’re not even sure how much of it is you and how much of it isn’t. So how can somebody else…decide?” (42:33–44:02)
• Tony Kushner (quoted from past interview):
  • “It’s not that you’re unaware of the fact that this is a great racial…nationalist epic written by an anti-Semitic egomaniacal monster, but it’s just too great to leave alone.” (44:33–44:46)
• Jad Abumrad concludes: “He did some amazing things and he did some fucked up things…you can do great things and you can do terrible things. And better to have a full conversation about that with all the messiness rather than an idealized version without the truth.” (45:42)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We wouldn’t have a Fela Kuti without the queens. I could say that in ten hundred ways.” —Dotun Ayobadi (00:05)
• “The deeper you dig, the more you realize the story of Fela is the story of women.” —Jad Abumrad (00:17)
• “We all love Fela. Fela is a very, very good woman.” —Laide (08:36, repeated 36:44; affectionate, complex rendering)
• “What people don’t understand is that they think that everybody in Fela’s house are bad. No, I joined him on my own. Nobody asked me to go there. I go there. Yes. I’m proud to say that.” —Laide (11:18)
• “We know we love Fela because Fela doesn’t leave us. We were protecting Fela. Fela was protecting us.” —Laide (36:54)
• “We will go through all this and people will say they don’t see us. Why would they not see us?” —Laide (38:53)
• “I’m abandoned.” —Laide (39:51)
• Ayo Adeburi on art vs. artist: “Even the maybe challenge that that poses, I think it’s a bit false…there is no answer, and that’s kind of the answer.” (42:33–44:02)
• Tony Kushner (channelled by Jad): “It’s just too great to leave alone.” (44:46)

Key Timestamps

• 00:05–03:10: Importance of the Queens in Afrobeat’s formation and performance.
• 05:48–13:04: Interviews with Laide, Lara, and Chinyere; Queen’s voices and experiences.
• 15:21–19:33: Personal histories and motivations for joining Fela.
• 21:24–24:16: Postcolonial Nigeria, civil war, and the Kalakuta Republic’s appeal.
• 28:59–34:54: Life in the commune—polyamory, yabis, internal justice, and abuse.
• 35:51–36:29: External critique from family (Chief Taiwo Lijadu), Fela’s changing character.
• 38:03–39:51: Documentation of violence from state, scars—both physical and emotional.
• 41:44–44:02: Wrestling with art and artist, no easy answers.
• 44:33–44:46: Reflection via Tony Kushner on genius and darkness—when art is “too great to leave alone.”

Conclusion

“The Queens” offers a raw, intricate look at the women so often erased from Fela Kuti’s myth—honoring their agency, artistry, suffering, and centrality to the Afrobeat revolution. It is an episode that refuses easy answers, insisting on messy humanity in art, in politics, in love, and in memory. For listeners, it’s a reckoning with legacy: who builds it, who benefits, and who gets left behind.