Fela Kuti

“Spiritually speaking, every human being has a destiny and a duty to perform.”

“If I became president now I would immediately pass a law that makes every citizen a policeman or a soldier.”

“When you start to think of revenge, you start to think of hate. I don't believe in hating people. It's a retrogressive thing.”

“America needs to hear some good sounds from Africa, man. The sanity of the world is going to be generated from Africa through art.”

“The African mind has a lot to contribute, not only to world understanding of the arts, but to an understanding of spiritualism. That is the contribution Africa will make to the world of the future - an injection of sanity into the environment of the universe itself.”

“The rhythm, the sounds, the tonality, the chord sequences, the individual effect of each instrument and each section of the band - I'm talking about a whole continent in my music.”

“My music has never been a failure.”

“No, I didn't hear about 'Live Aid.' I was in prison, and we were not allowed newspapers in prison.”

“I believe in pan-Africanism. This means that in many things - the judiciary, sports, economics and trade - we want Africanism to be involved, which is basically more freedom for the people.”

“An African man should not do anything called housework or cooking.”

“My country will be a symbol of free human society.”

“Art itself is knowledge of the spiritual world. Art is information from higher forces, by those who are talented. I'm not jiving.”

“I realized that you cannot think European and want to write or create something African. You have to think African in everything.”

“I think I'm going to lead my people one day. I'm sure of it.”

“In America we talk about South Africa, but I tell people that apartheid is nothing compared to what is happening in my country where black oppresses black.”

“I'm playing deep African music.”

“Western music is Bach, Handel and Schubert. It's good music, cleverly done. As a musician, I can see that.”

“The art, the greatness of the music, the experience of the music is what I'm about. I think most African artists have destroyed their artistry by commercialization, and I don't want to belong to that bag.”

“Music must awaken people to do their duty as citizens and act.”

“Our prisons are very bad. When I was in Ikoyi prison, people were dying every day. They were carrying bodies out of the prison every day.”