Shoki Shoki

1	Truth Don Die' 6:17
2	Beng Beng Beng 4:45
3	What Will Tomarrow Bring 5:45
4	Victim of Life 6:18
5	Blackman Know Yourself 5:19
6	Look Around 6:00
7	Sorry Sorry 6:41
8	Eregele 7:16
9	Scatta Head 8:21
10	Beng Beng Beng Chateau Flight Remix 5:07
11	Truth Don Die Kerri Chandler Remix 7:54
12	Blackman Know Yourself The Roots Remix 6:06

Barnes & Noble

Afro-beat, the music invented by Femi Kuti's irascible sire, Fela, hit its peak in the '70s, when the elder Kuti was locked in battle against Nigeria's military regime and his massive band/commune Africa 70 was approaching Branch Davidian dimensions. Two years after Fela's death in 1997, dance floors throughout Europe and the States are once again percolating with the sound -- but it's Femi Kuti's keenly stripped-down interpretation of his papa's bag that's moving the crowds. "Beng Beng Beng," his supremely sexy disco hit, packs the sprawling improvisational excess of Fela into 4:43 minutes of humping-thumping energy, squalling with saxophone, chant, and percussion, jacked up on an unstoppable soul groove. Where Fela launched cranky diatribes over 20-minute jams, Femi's critiques are far more general: on the explicit "Beng Beng Beng" and "Scattahead" -- an unlikely plea for safety in sports -- they're even somewhat frivolous. Not that SHOKI SHOKI is anything less than a full-on typhoon of rhythmic energy: The massed saxophones, with Femi's Albert Ayler stylings leading the way, and palpitating percussion make the nine songs something of an Afro-beat suite, dynamically rising and falling just like Dad's used to. (After all, the younger Kuti did lead his father's band while Fela was in jail.) Bolstered by three remixes (one by hip-hop band the Roots) SHOKI SHOKI is a party just waiting to get started. And if Afro-pop is waiting for a savior to win back the hordes seduced by Cuban music, Femi Kuti is here. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Now that he's assumed the mantle of Afro-Beat superstardom from his father, Femi Kuti seems much more assured on his third album, Shoki Shoki. Femi is just as focused on political and social situations as Fela Kuti, as displayed on several tracks here ("Blackman Know Yourself," "What Will Tomorrow Bring," "Victim of Life," "Look Around"). Also like his father, he never lets the lyrically conscious material get in the way of pushing irresistible grooves. From the openers "Truth Don Die" and "Beng Beng Beng" -- both of which were passed off to dance remixers including Masters at Work and Black Science Orchestra -- to later tracks like "Sorry Sorry," Femi is a strict bandleader who knows how to get the most out of his charges. In fact, the only real stylistic difference between father and son is the fact that songs by Femi are shorter and poppier than those by Fela. John Bush