Seun Kuti grabs De La Soul’s Posdnuos for the Grand Stand version of “Stand Well Well.” The single is from the deluxe version of his Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) album released last year. Pos adds another dimension to the song as the Native Tongue member meets Afrobeat royalty for a cross-cultural jam. He had this to say about the collaboration: “Seun is a powerful soul and it’s inspirational being around him whenever I have been. The song for me means to stand well rooted in agreeableness. Standing well rooted against the whirlwind of misery dressed up as entertainment online, as well as its powerful elixir of self-doubting. Standing focused to not fall for the trap of redundancy that being on social media can present.” As the youngest son of late Afrobeat architect Fela Kuti, Seun has made the same commitment as his father to use music for social change. 

Kamasi Washington, Alborosie, and Adi Oasis also have appearances on the deluxe edition of Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) which comes out May 28th on Record Kicks. Kuti is going on a tour of the United States in April with stops at Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Tickets for the tour that goes through more than 20 cities by the end of May are on sale now. 

Seun Kuti collaborates with Adi Oasis for the Cinnamon version of “Love & Revolution.” The single originally appeared on Kuti’s Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) released last year. Oasis adds soulful conviction to the Afrobeat scenario inspired by Kuti’s wife, Yetunde Kuti. The song is a celebration of the dual desire for love and change and will be included on the deluxe version of HYLTCH. Oasis was more than happy to lend her voice to the song. She says, 

“I’m so honored to be included in this project. Seun and I met a decade ago at a show in Cleveland, and we’ve been following each other since. He’s a great human and one of the best performers out there. His energy shines bright and resonates through his music. I’m so happy that he chose me for this song in particular. ‘Love & Revolution’ talks about a woman with a strong will and a big heart. It celebrates the Divine feminine and shows its strengths. I couldn’t dream of a better subject to sing about.”

The deluxe version of Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) comes out in the spring. Kuti will go on a tour of the United States in April with dates in more than a dozen cities, including an appearance at Coachella. Tickets are on sale now. 

Seun Kuti’s “Emi Aluta” gets a Zamrock remix from Zambian singer, rapper, and songwriter Sampa the Great. Sampa and her team Mag44 and Solomon Pate produced the raucous reworking for the Afrobeat heir. The single is on Kuti’s recently released album, Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) which is exclusively produced by Lenny Kravitz. Sampa  shared her feelings about the remix,

“I’ve made it a personal goal of mine to be able to work with legendary African musicians who have broken barriers for African music to be expressed and celebrated globally. Seun Kuti is one such Artist! I was truly honored to be a part of Seun Kuti’s album. Seun’s music and family legacy have paved a way for a lot of us globally, regardless of our various genres within the African continent. It was amazing being involved in that journey and adding my voice, culture, and music lineage through the Zamrock remix. African music continues to grow and inspire within the continent and beyond!.” 

Stream the remix of “Emi Aluta” and look for Kuti on tour of the United States with his first date in April at the Blue Note in New York City. Tickets are on sale now. 

Seun Kuti On Tour 

April 3 New York, New York @ Blue Note Jazz Club 
April 4           New York, New York @ Blue Note Jazz Club 
April 5           New York, New York @ Blue Note Jazz Club 
April 6           New York, New York @ Blue Note Jazz Club 
April 9           Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl
April 11         Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
April 12         San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
April 18         Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
April 21         Evanston, IL @ SPACE
April 22         St. Louis, MO @ City Winery
April 24         New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
April 25         Atlanta, GA @ City Winery
April 26         Charleston, SC @ Pour House
April 27         Mills River, NC @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
April 29         Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
April 30         Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre
May 3            Hollywood, FL @ ArtsPark
May 6            Seattle, WA @ Jazz Alley
May 7            Seattle, WA @ Jazz Alley
May 8            Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
May 9            Fort Collins, CO @ The Armory
May 10          Basalt, CO @ TACAW
May 11          Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
May 13          Durango, CO @ Animas City Theatre
May 17          Bentonville, AR @ FreshGrass Festival
 

Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge’s Jazz Is Dead label is releasing a Tony Allen album. Allen, who passed in 2020, was the innovative drummer who helped Fela Kuti created the Afrobeat genre. Their work together added a new vocabulary to the world of rhythm. Younge and Muhammad were lucky enough to work with Allen on new music. Younge says, 

“First of all, to be able to work with somebody that helped pioneer the sound of a new genre, a genre that is kind of sort of an international style of funk, which is Afrobeat; it’s Black American music going back to it’s birthplace, Africa. Tony Allen represents that foundation. When I got the chance to work with this legend, I wanted to create an album that harkened back to the dawn of this music. This album focuses on early to mid-’70s African funk. I wanted to pull a lot of that out of Tony.”

Allen was always musically adventurous and it went beyond the creation of Afrobeat. When his days of working with Fela ended he continued to collaborate with various musicians. He shared his musical instincts with French pop stars Sebastien Tellier and Charlotte Gainsbourg on their famous “La Ritournelle” single and 5:55 album. Damon Albarn created the bands Rocket Juice and the Moon and The Good, the Bad and the Queen with Allen. Techno pioneer Jeff Mills worked with Allen on the Tomorrow Comes The Harvest EP. Detroit rapper Danny Brown and London rapper Skepta collaborated with Allen on the posthumous album There Is No End. 

The Jazz Is Dead album is another look inside Allen’s vision of rhythm with Muhammad and Younge’s energy in the studio. Tony Allen JID018 comes out on July 7th.