|
LOS ANGELES, CA – September 18, 2025 – Higher Ground, the media company founded by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, announced the launch of Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, a new podcast series hosted by Jad Abumrad (Radiolab, Dolly Parton's America), releasing on Thursday, September 18, exclusively from Audible. The 12-episode Audible Original explores the extraordinary true story of Fela Kuti, the classically-trained Nigerian musician who created the Afrobeat music genre as a revolutionary language of resistance against oppression. The podcast features new interviews with Ayo Edebiri, David Byrne, Brian Eno, Santigold and more, plus previously recorded interviews with Burna Boy, Questlove, and Paul McCartney.
For years, the world's biggest stars journeyed to Nigeria to experience Fela's Shrine, the physical home for his musical revolution. But when the mix of art, activism, and defiance got too hot, the state pulled out its guns and literally opened fire. Fela Kuti: Fear No Man delivers an uncategorizable mix of oral history, musicology, journalism, and cutting-edge sound design that takes listeners deep inside Fela's life, music, and legacy. As Fela makes music and inspires rebellion – both then and now – listeners learn how art and music can inspire and threaten both the present and future. Drawing from over 200 interviews with Fela Kuti's family members, his friends and musicians, as well as historians, activists, and luminaries like Burna Boy, Paul McCartney, Questlove, Santigold, and former President Barack Obama, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man dissects Afrobeat's body, mind, and soul – and finds where art's true power lies and the role artists can play in this current moment of global turmoil.
Felabration, an annual festival held in Lagos, Nigeria has evolved from a commemoration honoring Fela Kuti's birthday into a week-long musical extravaganza from October 13-19, attracting fans worldwide. In celebration, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man will be available widely across podcast platforms on Wednesday, October 15 starting with the first two episodes and releasing weekly.
"It's interesting to put things in perspective as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Felabration. Fela poured his hopes and beliefs out in his raw and unfiltered newly invented genre of music aiming to inspire change in the mindset of so many people. He took fearless risks that probably led him to being the most incarcerated musician in history," said Made Kuti, grandson of Fela Kuti. "Today his music inspires musicians and listeners all around the world, but his nation that he tried so hard to help to develop is arguably several times worse than it was while he was alive. Today so many of us carry on his vision for a better future and Felabration is just one of many ways we show how thankful we are for all the risks he took to inspire us."
"Fela is a thousand things, and I hope we captured some of that complexity in this series,"said host Jad Abumrad. "He's a movement builder, a cult leader, a groove weaver. But for me, what makes him so hard to shake is that his life asks a question: when the world is spinning out of control, what's the right response? His weapon was music. And for a moment, that was enough to almost topple a government and create a new world order. Can art actually save us? I hope it can but I'm still not sure. On my more optimistic days, I reach for a Fela record."
Fela Kuti: Fear No Man host Jad Abumrad is an acclaimed radio host, podcast host, composer, and producer. Under his direction as the creator and former host of Radiolab, the public radio (WNYC) program amassed over 10 million downloads monthly and aired on more than 500 stations worldwide. A 2011 MacArthur Fellow, Abumrad has revolutionized audio storytelling through his innovative use of sound design, deep-dive journalism, and narrative techniques. His previous work includes the Peabody Award-winning Radiolab, More Perfect, Dolly Parton's America, and The Ring & I. He is currently a Distinguished Research Professor of Communication of Science and Technology at Vanderbilt University.
Presented by Audible and Higher Ground, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man is produced by Western Sound and Talkhouse.
Higher Ground's hit podcasts include IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, which features the former First Lady and her older brother giving their opinions and candid perspectives to the everyday questions shaping our lives, relationships, and the world around us; The Wonder of Stevie, a seven-episode series that covers Stevie Wonder's iconic legacy, featuring exclusive conversations with Wonder and a wide range of A-list fans; Your Mama's Kitchen, where award-winning journalist Michele Norris and her guests explore the complexities of family life and how their earliest culinary experiences helped shape their personal and professional lives; Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast, an Audible Original which features Michelle Obama's inspiring conversations with esteemed friends like Ellen DeGeneres, Tyler Perry, Conan O'Brien, and Oprah Winfrey; The Big Hit Show, a series of audio documentaries hosted by Alex Pappademas focused on pieces of popular culture that have defined and changed our culture; Tell Them, I Am, a podcast collection of universal stories from Muslim voices; Renegades: Born in the USA, a series of conversations between President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen; The Michelle Obama Podcast; and The Sum of Us podcast series, based on Heather McGhee's bestselling book.
Fela Kuti: Fear No Man is available exclusively on Audible starting September 18, and everywhere you get your podcasts beginning October 1
|
