Okayafrica Audio: Listen To Fela Kuti's Very First Recording ca. 1960

 Editor's Note: This story was originally published in February 2015 and has been updated for Fela Kuti's 87th birthday on Oct. 15, 2025.

Long before he was "The Black President" and everyone's favorite kush-kissing revolutionary, Fela Kuti was a champion of Nigeria's highlife scene. 

On Kuti's 87th birthday this year, bring it back to the origins with one of the oldest known recordings of the artist and revolutionary that is widely available. 

Celebrate Fela Kuti's 87th birthday with exclusive gear.

Recorded around late 1959 to 1960 for the Melodisc record label during Kuti's London stay, the unearthed cut "Fela's Special" (thank you kindly Soundway) shows precisely what the highlife meant to that musical madman before he was actually living it. 

The track is credited to Fela & The Highlife Rakers and it appeared on Highlife on the Move: Selected Nigerian and Ghanaian Recordings from London and Lagos – 1954-66 compilation from Soundway, which was released on March 16, 2015 with CDs, digital purchases and vinyl pressings. 

You can listen to a 22-year-old Fela Kuti get loose on "Fela's Special" below. 

'Fela!' Director Lili-Anne Brown's Ancestral Pilgrimage To The Stage

We sat down with the Chicago native, Lili-Anne Brown, to discuss the American perspective and the legend that continues to be Fela Kuti.