Gentleman

“Gentleman” is one of Fela Kuti’s angriest and most masterful songs. Originally released in 1973, the lyrics decry African men who wear European clothing, in line with the cover image: a monkey’s head pasted onto a suit (likely worn by a child, as the clothes fall loosely in a pile). Musically, it’s a killer jazz-funk workout, with Kuti blowing a fierce, almost King Curtis-esque sax melody over electric piano, multiple guitars, a raucous horn section, and Tony Allen’s complex rhythms for the first nine minutes of its 14-minute running time. The two shorter tracks on the album’s flip side, “Fefe Naa Efe” and “Igbe,” are a looser, jazzier meditation and a taut, James Brown-style workout, respectively.