VARIOUS ARTISTS
Red Hot + RIOT!
The Red Hot Organization/ Universal
· In the time it takes to listen to this album, 150 Africans will become infected with HIV/AIDS.
Dedicated to the memory of Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Red Hot + RIOT! is the 14th in a series of AIDS benefit projects created by The Red Hot Organization, which has donated nearly $7 million to global AIDS prevention and relief efforts.
But this album does much more than raise awareness – it provides an opportunity for musicians from all over the world to pay their respects to Fela himself, a revolutionary and musician of the highest calibre. Fela’s legacy of grassroots activism and Afrobeat rhythms has left an indelible mark on his countrymen, who referred to him as their "Black President" before he succumbed to AIDS-related complications in 1997 at age 58.
The scope of his influence is reflected by the star-stuffed queue of artists who have contributed to this outstanding compilation. Red Hot + RIOT! gets off to a running start with the dynamic "Kalakuta Show" featuring Mix Master Mike scratching and looping Fela samples and traditional rhythms over rappers Lateef and The Gift of Gab, the latter from Blackalicious. Other Red Hot numbers include a double-dose of Fela’s groove-fest "Water No Get Enemy," reworked by his son Femi Kuti along with D’Angelo, Macy Gray and the talented trumpeter Roy Hargrove, who lights up this album with his spirited horn playing.
Chanteuse Me’ Shell Ndege’Ocello teams up with Yerba Buena for the modern soul chant "Gentlemen," while Fela’s former band, Positive Force, backs Dead Prez, Brazilian Jorge Ben and hip-hop artist Talib Kweli to jazz things up on the smoking cut "Shuffering and Shmiling."
The tempo of the 20-track CD slowly cools off as it progresses through classic Fela material, arriving at Cheikh Lo’s authentic Senegalese shakedown "Shankara/Lady – Parts 1 and 2." Tony (Oladipo) Allen, formerly of Fela’s group Africa 70, joins fellow Nigerian Sade (Adu), winding down the album in style with a smooth Cottonbelly remix of her hit "By Your Side."
But it’s blues legend Taj Mahal who gets the last word in, covering a unique Fela lullaby entitled "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am," accompanied by Baaba Maal on acoustic guitar, Kaouding Cissoko on kora and the 14 members of Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra bringing down the house.
Red Hot and RIOT! overflows with the rich diversity of music that has evolved from the Afrobeat sound Fela pioneered – it is a tribute that will stand the test of time, just as Fela’s own work has.
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