Fight to Win

1	Do Your Best / Mos Def 6:10
2	Walk on the Right Side 6:03
3	Traitors of Africa 5:28
4	Tension Grip Nigeria 1:35
5	'97 6:09
6	Fight to Win / Jaguar Wright 3:57
7	Stop AIDS 3:22
8	Eko Lagos 7:19
9	Alkebu-Lan (Cradle of Civilization) 5:34
10	One Day Someday 6:12
11	The Choice Is Yours 3:11
12	Missing Link / Common 7:15

Barnes & Noble

On his follow-up to 1999's kinetic Shoki Shoki, Femi Kuti proves there's more to his take on his father, Fela's, signature sound than merely nudging up the beats-per-minute. Having already pushed Afrobeat to a new, dance-focused plateau with the provocative club hit "Beng Beng Beng," Femi seeks to broaden his sound on Fight to Win, pumping up the undercurrents of reggae, soul, and highlife while also exploring electronic effects, retro-sounding keyboards, and 21st-century hip-hop, thanks to assists from Beastie Boys sideman Money Mark and rappers Common and Mos Def. Likewise he's turned up the volume on his political messages, which range from the folksy village advice of "Do Your Best" and "Walk on the Right Side" to more vituperative attacks on political oppression ("Traitors of Africa") and ignorance ("Stop AIDS"). All this flexing makes for a more tentative album than its fireball predecessor, but when Kuti's experiments pay off, the results are astonishing. No more so than on "'97," a spine-tingling autobiographical number recounting the deaths of his father and sister in shocking succession. The brawny might of Positive Force's horns swells in the face of Kuti's grim recounting, rivaling the harrowing power of his father's own musical memoirs of war and conflict. Meanwhile, the slinky title track, featuring female R&B vocalist Jaguar Wright, imagines a down-tempo neo-soul vibe; it's something like Angie Stone on safari. Other experiments, however, threaten to blow up the lab: "Missing Link," featuring the gifted Chicago rapper Common, relegates the band to a hip-hop-style backing track and indulges an ill-advised vocoder. But when Kuti's on point, as on the public-service "Stop AIDS," his combination of big band and bigger beats deliver a power-packed message of social justice that the all the world needs to hear. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

With 2000's Shoki Shoki, Femi Kuti fully stepped out of the shadow of his late father, Fela Kuti. With this record he begins casting his own shadow. Still Afro-beat, it brings in artists like Mos Def and Common to align itself with hip-hop. The musical pace is less frenetic, but the mood remains as intense as it's always been, as one listens to the scorching "Traitors of Africa" or "Eko Lagos" shows. Kuti has matured, and with that he can reveal more of himself, like the debt to his mother shown on "Walk on the Right Side" or the very personal "'97," which commemorates the three deaths the family suffered that year. Kuti's band, the Positive Force, is tighter than ever, and able to play with more varied colors in its arrangements, allowing instrumentals in addition to some blowing, often from Kuti himself. Like his father or Bob Marley, Kuti has become the voice of the common man, not only in Africa but everywhere, concerned with justice, both personal and political. Varied, accomplished, with Fight to Win Kuti has made his first great album. Chris Nickson