Fela Anikulapo Kuti is one of the greatest musicians ever to perform in Nigeria.
Heres a list of notable musicians that have sampled his music in their songs.
- J Cole:
The American rapper sampled Fela's "Gentleman" in the song "Let Nas Down " from his 2013 album Born Sinner
- Nas:
The hip hop veteran sampled Felas "Na poi" on his track "Warrior song" which he featured Alicia Keys.
- The ROOTS:
The band was introduced to Fela by Questlove.. This led them to sample his “Grammarticalogylisationalism Is the Boss” on their 2009 song, “I will not apologize”.
- Missy Elliot:
When Missy Elliott recorded “Whatcha Gon’ Do” in 2001, not many knew it had Fela’s input. She sampled Fela's "Colonial mentality "
- Mos Def:
The American hip-hop artiste famously sampled a portion of Fela’s “Music is the Weapon” on his own song, “Quiet Dogs Bite Hard”.
- Bilal:
“Sorrow Tears and Blood” featuring Common and Zap Mama took a bit of Fela from his 1981 song “Coffin for Head of State”.
- Obie Trice:
Trice borrowed material from Fela’s “Sorrow Tears and Blood” to create “Spend the Day”.
- Wizkid:
The Nigerian afro-pop crooner has sampled Fela in several of his songs most notably in his 2013 hit "Jaiye jaiye" featuring Femi Kuti.. He sampled the song "Lady".
- 2baba:
He sampled Fela’s “Army Arrangement” on “Jeje”.
- Kendrick Lamar :
'To Pimp A Butterfly‘s' liner notes reveal that 'Mortal Man' samples Fela Kuti‘s 1975 “I No Get Eye for Back”