No Accommodation for Lagos

Toward the end of his tenure with Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 band, drummer Tony Allen was growing dissatisfied, so Kuti encouraged him to make albums under his own name using Africa 70. No Accomodation For Lagos, released in 1979, was the last of three, and features the entire band, including Fela (though he doesn’t sing, only plays saxophone and electric piano). Allen’s lyrics, while less strident than the boss’s, are nonetheless critical of Nigerian society and equally intent on imparting positivity to the people of Africa. The title track is a forceful Afrobeat jam with fierce horn solos, while “African Message” is a looser, jazzier piece, and the album as a whole is a secret treat for Fela fans who think they’ve heard his whole catalog.