Song Review: Olu Maintain ft. Femi Kuti – Lady

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Critics move closer! Olu Maintain has taken an excursion into the intricate world of Afrobeat. And he has the best guide for the job – his name is Femi Kuti.

The former Maintain singer has come a long way from the days of interpolations and over sampling. He scored a major hit with yahoozeey but failed to get into the good books of critics. Now, he’s hit the studios to record the first set of materials that should put questions over his talents to rest once and for all.

Lady is the first single from the new chapter in the singer’s career. Borrowing from Fela Kuti’s original version, Olu makes an admirable effort to blend afrobeat with urbane grooves – and, with Femi on the saxophone, it’s not surprising he did not go wrong.

There may be little to take home from the lyrics, but Olu’s rendition comes on point; the excitement he puts on the song, contagious and the call-and-response interesting.

Not a bad attempt for a digitally-made afrobeat cut; not a bad attempt at fusing hip hop elements into a trado set; not a bad attempt at getting critics to give him listening ears – and, definitely, not a bad attempt at getting a pop-centric generation to have an idea of what Femi Kuti sounds like on the sax : absolutely brilliant.

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1. NETPod: ‘Back To Sender’ – Durella Ft Femi Kuti
2. Femi Kuti and Durrela Collaborate On Upcoming Single
3. Femi Kuti Impregnates Another Dancer
4. Why Femi and Seun Kuti Were Missing At Felabration 2011
5. ‘The Government Is Not Answering Our Questions’ – Femi Kuti

Tags: femi kuti, lady, olu maintain