At just under twenty-five minutes in total length, “Expensive Shit” is actually more like an EP than an album, but this format is pretty much how Fela Kuti released most all of his material. As a unit unto itself, it would be all but impossible to find, but the two songs that make up the album are featured often on Kuti’s ‘best of’ collections, albeit sometimes edited to a length more palatable to his western audience. Kuti’s recordings were intended exclusively for the Nigerian market where he recorded and played live, and countries outside of his native continent knew little about the man or his music, so for years, much of his music remained an obscurity to most of us in the United States.

From a lyrical perspective, “Expensive Shit” is one of Kuti’s most powerful releases, but it helps to know the back-story. Kuti was no friend of the corrupt regime that ruled Nigeria with a clenched fist, and he used his fame to bring attention to the rulers who tried to control the populace while sucking the economy dry. This made him a bonafide ‘enemy of the state’, and the government tried to shut Kuti down in a variety of ways. The stories of his confrontations with corrupt policemen have become legendary, and although it is almost impossible to find the clear truth in any case, Kuti’s version is always quite compelling. In this particular instance, he was approached by Nigerian police who attempted to arrest him after planting marijuana on him. To defeat this tactic, Kuti literally ate it, infuriating the police who then arrested him and threw him into jail for destroying evidence. In captivity, they monitored Kuti’s bowel movements, combing through his excrement for residual bits of the joint he swallowed. Kuti later told fans that he managed to swap his feces with that of another inmate, and so without any proof, he was released. The lyrics relate this horror story as a judgmental accusation of his captors. 

“Shit go be the last thing I go like to see…Not be so for some stupid people I know.” 

“Them go use your shit to put you in jail, and tell my shit too expensive, it must not be lost.”

Even the album cover is provocative, with a photo of Kuti’s numerous wives standing topless outside a barbed wire barrier, protesting the arrest of their husband. The second track, titled “Water No Get Enemy”, is equally compelling, as it makes the rather obvious point that without water, there would be no life, and yet politicians use water to control the populace. Kuti’s oblique but fascinating perspective is that there may be plenty of hatred among man, but if you fight with water, you will die. It is rare even in Western music for politics to play such a direct role in the music of a pop artist, but for a Nigerian singer to confront a corrupt military dictatorship in the midst of a civil war takes a bravery that borders on foolishness. Kuti’s decision to publicize his confrontations with the regime only escalated their desire to gag him, yet Kuti sang his songs in pidgin English so that it could be understood all over the continent, rather than just by Nigerians. This made it easier to disseminate his resistance, resulting in more ears to hear him, while also increasing the ire of his enemies. His life story is fascinating, and much of it can be discerned through his music. Today, his spirit lives on in the music of his son Femi Kuti, who writes and performs music inspired by the legacy of his father. 

Featured Tracks:

Expensive Shit

Water No Get Enemy

Opposite People (Bonus Track)

 Roforofo Fight (Bonus Track)

June 1975 – Billboard Did Not Chart