| Confusion | ||||
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| Studio album by Fela Ransome-Kuti and the Africa 70 | ||||
| Released | 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Genre | Afrobeat | |||
| Length | 25:36 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Producer | Fela Ransome-Kuti | |||
| Fela Kuti chronology | ||||
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Confusion is a 1975 album by Nigerian Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti and his Africa 70 band. It was arranged, composed, and produced by Kuti, who recorded the album after choosing to emphasize his African heritage and nationalism in his music. Confusion is a commentary on the confused state of post-colonial Lagos and its lack of infrastructure and proper leadership at the time. Kuti's pidgin English lyrics depict difficult conditions in the city, including a frenetic, multilingual trading market and inextricable traffic jams in Lagos' major intersections.
Confusion is a one-song Afrobeat album that begins with an entirely instrumental first half, which features free form interplay between Kuti's electric piano and drummer Tony Allen. It leads to an extended mid-tempo section with Allen's polyrhythms and tenor saxophone by Kuti, who subsequently delivers call-and-response vocal passages. In reviews since the record's release by EMI, the album was praised by music critics, who found it exemplary of Kuti's Afrobeat style and recommended it as a highlight from his extensive catalog. In both 2000 and 2010, Confusion was reissued and bundled with Kuti's 1973 Gentleman album.