Fela and food: how Lagos restaurants are serving up the music star’s legacy – The Conversation

A man in a patterned suit stands in the doorway of a metallic trailer with red blinds and detailing, echoing the vibrant style and music legacy of Fela.

In Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial and creative capital, food is doing something unusual. It’s keeping alive the spirit of a musician.

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, one of Africa’s most influential artists, was the architect of Afrobeat (not to be confused with today’s Afrobeats, which was born from it).

Fela pioneered his politically charged, musically expansive sound in the early 1970s by blending jazz, highlife, funk and Yoruba rhythms. He paired these with lyrics that took aim at corruption, oppression and postcolonial…