Journey Through Life

Album review

In 1998, Femi Kuti released Shoki Shoki, his fourth album, but the first to be released after his father's death in 1997. While the album found Femi still forging his own sonic path, Fela's death (and the mid-‘90s Afrobeat renaissance that had international audiences again clamoring for the sounds emerging from the Kalakuta Empire) meant that eldest son Femi was now explicitly carrying the torch for music that was as uncompromising politically as it was undeniably funky. Shoki Shoki contained the lyrically direct "Sorry Sorry," which called out the overreach of the military dictatorship that then ruled Nigeria uninterrupted since 1983. And while the junta was replaced in 1999 by elected politicians, for everyday Nigerians, it's very much been a plus ça change situation. 

Femi Kuti addresses that weariness directly in Journey Through Life. "After 24 Years" is a groove-oriented number but still manages to evoke what it sounds like to be exhausted by the constant strife and political troubles of his beloved country. That said, most of the rest of Journey Through Life is largely upbeat. To be sure, whether it's the rambunctious and nearly joyous "Politics Don Expose Them," the absolutely smoking funk jam "Corruption na Stealing" (which boasts some stunning keyboard work accenting the locked in groove), or album closer "Think My People Think," these relentless and infectious grooves are paired with lyrical exhortations that are anything but glib. However, it's not all political fire breathing here; the title track is a wonderfully expressive number on which Kuti reflects on his 60-plus years on Earth. Similarly, the album's penultimate cut, "Work on Myself," reminds listeners to reflect on becoming their best selves. The last few moments of this track feature a spare solo vocal that may be Kuti's most riveting performance on the whole record. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz