J. Period And K'Naan - The Messengers Episode 1 (Fela Kuti)

Mixtape guru J.Period is back and this time around he's chosen to get up with relative newcomer, the Somali-Canadian musician known as K'Naan for the first installment of their 4 part "The Messengers" series....

In this first episode the L.A. born, Brooklyn based mixtape assassin and the Somali "Troubadour" excavate and re-work a host of genius cuts from none other than the king of Afrobeat music Fela Kuti...

Instead of giving you his usual mixtape formula of highlighting the catalog of a former great MC's like Q-Tip, Lauryn Hill and Biggie, here we find J.Period loaning out his considerable production and DJing talents as the foundation for K'Naan's musical activism and a 5 part project that highlights some of music's all-time most talented and thoughtful artists who doubled as social activists.

I must admit, I am not the biggest K'Naan fan, but I am a pretty huge Fan of Fela Kuti and the idea of the two's music being fused together is an intriguing convention. I was sleeping big time on K., I'll own up to it....

If he was still alive today, no doubt Fela would've welcomed the opportunity to work with K'Naan seeing as how he was also firmly rooted in Human rights work and political posturing within his music. No doubt K. is definitely walking in the same path as Fela once did to a certain degree.

The globally recognized rapper/poet goes in for the first installment of what surely will be a monster series with ferocity. Sounding perfectly at home over Kuti's funky masterpieces, the diversity of K's talents hit you almost as nicely as his herky jerky flow. Over timeless Africa '70' (Fela's band name) horn sections and "tinker pan" African-style percussion he spits manic verses that skip frantically from topic to topic, as J.Period backs him up with bangin' beat after bangin beat. Period also interweaves a bunch of thoughtful vocal samples that range from oral history of Fela's biography, Martin Luther King Jr. and Biggie Smalls, adding a dope presence and simultaneously giving folks a relatable history lesson.

Fela's resounding vocals are heard throughout the tape and his brilliant messages and arrangements are successfully made over for modern kids...The Nigerian king of funky Afrobeat and his message of Pan-Africanism and human rights lives on and rides along with K'Naan on "The Messengers Episode 1".

This garners a 9 outta 10 purehip-hop rating.....

Purehip-hop picks are "Gentlemen ft. Bajah", "The Story Of Fela (Open & Close) and "Africa". Also, be sure to be checking in on J.Period's site every Tuesday this month as Period and K. continue to release the remaining episodes of "The Messengers" series that will cover Bob Marley and Bob Dylan as well, then culminate in the release of "The Messengers" in its entirety (including additional bonus tracks and artwork) on September 22.

-BIG D O










1. Introduction to Fela Kuti
2. Let's Start (Messengers Remix)
3. Let Me Introduce Me (Messengers Remix)
4. Messengers and Prophets (Interlude)
5. Ololufe Mi (Messengers Remix)
6. Who is Fela? (Interlude)
7. Got My Dream (Messengers Remix)
8. The Story of Fela (Open & Close)
9. Gentleman feat. Bajah (Messengers Remix)
10. Perceptions of Africa (Interlude)
11. Africa (Messengers Remix)
12. Africa Unite (Outro)

You can download this tape free via J.Periods website:
http://www.jperiod.com/