Fela Kuti: Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever was originally released in 1976 on Decca's West African imprint, Afrodisia, and both its tracks were hugely controversial in Nigeria. The title track is one of Fela's greatest masterpieces. Sung in Broken English, the language Fela adopted in order to make his words understood beyond Yoruba speakers, the lyrics rail against women's use of skin whitening creams, a fashion which, sadly, still persists today.

Side One: "Yellow Fever." Yellow fever was the nickname Lagos residents gave to traffic wardens (from the yellow in their uniforms), and Fela borrowed the description for his song. Like many of his lyrics, particularly in the mid 1970s, the subject is cultural identity: Fela cites the practice of skin whitening as an example of the post-colonial cultural inferiority complex he believed was holding back Nigeria's development. The song addresses women much as 1973's "Gentleman," which lampooned the adoption of European suits and ties, had addressed men.

In the lyric, Fela explains that if you catch an "original" fever—such as flu, jaundice or malaria —you will suffer but, with luck, survive, and your symptoms will fade away: "Original catch you, your eye go yellow, your yansh [ass] go yellow, you face go yellow, your body go weak, but later if you no die inside, the yellow go fade away." But if you catch an "artificial" (self-inflicted) fever, such as the craze for skin bleaching: "Artificial catch you, you be man or woman, na you go catch am yourself, na your money go do am for you, you go pass yellow, you go catch moustache for face, you got get your double colour, your yansch go black like coal, you self go think say you dey fine (but) who say you dey fine?"

The sleeve design of Yellow Fever is a personal favourite of Ghariokwu Lemi, the artist who created the sleeves for around half of Fela's albums, using a graphic style which contextualised the lyrics and reinforced their messages.

"The song is an admonition to African women who are fond of using bleaching creams to lighten their dark skin tone," says Lemi. "On the cover, I decided I was going to be straight-in-your-face with my imagery of a misinformed African beauty concept. I showed a rough and patchy face with boobs and bum in tow. Fela had taken great pains, in a no-holds-barred kind of way, to express disgust at the ignorance of the belief that skin lightening enhances African beauty. I showcased a typical offending cream in the top left corner of my cover art. 'Soyoyo Cream Skin Bleacher' was actually my own creation -the word soyoyo is a Yoruba expression for bright and glowing. Then I painted in the price tag of 40 naira. This was at the high end of the product range, but true. Despite an 'exclusive' price, these creams are so harmful to beauty and health, and to the psyche of African womenfolk. My life model was a girl named Kokor, who was a member of the household in Kalakuta Republic. Actually, I remember to my chagrin that other girls were saying that they could recognize Kokor as the model. I had thought the rough patches I put on the face would have prevented her being so easily recognizable."

Side Two: "Na Poi." The expression "na poi" literally means "things will collide," and in the lyric Fela describes what men and women get up to in bed together in graphic detail. The song was banned by the Nigerian Broadcasting Company. "Na poi," sings Fela, "fi si, ibe ko lo fi se yen, sun mo waju die die, move am forward small small, o di poi, fi ha, shock am, ma he o yo, ma ran mo" ("It's sex, put it in, that's not the right place, it's the wrong place, move if forward gently gently, it's sex, do it, guide it in, don't let it slip out, rub it in"). There's plenty more along the same lines.

In truth, shock value aside, "Na Poi" doesn't have particularly interesting lyrics. Few things, surely, are as boring as watching other people have sex—and listening to someone else talk about having sex is even worse. Afrika 70, fortunately, is on incandescent form and it is the band, more than the lyrics, which gives the track legs decades later.

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