Next Monday, March 4, sees the release of the new best of, The Best Of The Black President 2, by Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti via Knitting Factory Records. In anticipation of the release, we’ve got an exclusive first look at this ace recently-discovered and previously-unreleased footage of Fela and his band Egypt ’80 playing the Paris Zenith in 1984 – watch above.
The new best of collection forms a second volume to 2000’s The Best Of The Black President, taking in 12 10-minute-plus tracks, opening with 1975’s ‘Everything Scatter’, which you can listen to below. The standard 2CD edition – pre-order here – comes with an intro by Akon, and the deluxe edition comes with a DVD featuring Fela’s set at Glastonbury in 1984, which you can pre-order here.
The release marks the beginning of a mammoth remastering project by the label, which will see Kuti’s entire 50 album-strong back catalogue rereleased between this month and September, each with in-depth notes by Afrobeat historian Chris May. Watch this space for more on the reissues, stay tuned to the official Fela Kuti and Knitting Factory websites for further updates.
