For Femi Kuti, afrobeat is a family business. Of course he thanks his inspirator, mentor and father Fela, but also his mother and grandmother for the life lessons they taught him. His sister Yeni and his aptly named wife Funke also sing in his backing band The Positive Force. The nine own compositions groove smoothly and soulfully. Some tracks are pure afrobeat, but now and then there is also room
… for an electronic accent like in Bang Bang. In his lyrics, Femi, like his dad, is critical. In Blackman Know Yourself he calls on his fellow Africans to be proud of their culture, but in Sorry Sorry he mourns the decline of his Nigeria. Shoki Shoki is a solid album by the heir to the throne of the one and only Afrobeat dynasty. (PdK)more
