Fela Kuti — Kalakuta Republic, Lagos

The Kalakuta Republic — established by Fela Anikulapo Kuti in the early 1970s at his Lagos compound — was simultaneously a home, a recording studio, a commune, a medical clinic, and a self-declared independent state that rejected the authority of the Nigerian government. Fela — musician, composer, bandleader, and political dissident — used the compound as a base for his relentless critique of military corruption and neo-colonial exploitation, expressed through the music he called Afrobeat: long, hypnotic compositions for large ensemble that fused Yoruba musical traditions with jazz, funk, and politically explicit lyrics in pidgin English.

The Nigerian military raided the Kalakuta Republic on February 18, 1977, with roughly a thousand soldiers, burning the building, beating the inhabitants, and throwing Fela's 77-year-old mother Funmilayo out of an upstairs window — an act that contributed to her death from injuries sustained in the attack. Fela's response was to present the coffin of his mother to the military's offices in Lagos and to record "Coffin for Head of State" — a direct, public accusation of the generals responsible. His courage in the face of sustained state violence was extraordinary and internationally recognised.

A new Kalakuta Museum now operates near the original site in the Ikeja area of Lagos, housing instruments, photographs, and personal effects from Fela's life. The New Afrika Shrine — which he founded — continues as a music and cultural venue, still presenting the music of Fela and his son Femi Kuti regularly. Fela died on August 2, 1997, from complications of AIDS, refusing to acknowledge the illness publicly. He is one of the most significant African musicians and political figures of the twentieth century.