This is normal.

Music is a kind of freedom, however you use it.

The way I see it, the freer music can make me, the better. As Jerry Garcia put it "Music is the timeless experience of constant change" -- and his music certainly was timeless. Free from the chains of time, of trend, of fad. Free to be, to exist without limits. He leaves behind much to ponder.

Few can matter that much to music.
 

But they exist. One such man is Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Musical magician. Groovemeister. Bringer of good vibes. Like Jerry (and Trane, and Miles, and Cliff, and Bob, and etc.), he freed my mind. Like all other great artists before him, he made music that went beyond mood, went beyond groove, went beyond notes and chords and rhythms. He went BEYOND.  He did it with an edge. His expressions, dreams, lyrics, moments -- were all about freedom from oppression, about having hope and pride in the face of adversity, about fighting for what is right. About that/those which hindered progress. And Fela went beyond Politics, went to the core -- he went to Reality. To existence. To life.

And Fela's music does not come cheap -- he has been imprisoned repeatedly for inciting the desire for freedom in Nigeria, his home has been raided by armed government troops there to dismantle his recording capability, his ability to be heard -- killing whoever got in their way. Fela has endured, has continually come back with more music, more freedom, more hope. More endurance.

Fela's music is one of the few overtly Spiritual things I dig.

Fela's mix of Jazz, African beats and rhythms, carribean influences, and Pidgin English lyrics designed to reach a global audience have drawn me into his world of oppression and pain, his dreams of happiness and comfort -- a world aware of itself and its tendency toward chaos. I am grateful for that.
 
 

Fela Kuti died on August Second 1997 due to complications due to AIDS. He was 58. He refused traditional and Western medicine (even from his brother, a Medical Doctor), saying he wanted to let his life unfold unhindered. He suffered from the disease for two and half years, but was only desperately sick for two and a half weeks.

After his death, the Nigerian government offered apparently little restriction to mourners who wished to observe his final tribute. Over one million attended. Many more observed from afar, holding private vigils...

Some Fela Links:

Tribute with realaudio clips
"semi-official" Fela page
African Diaspora Music Fela page
multiple Fela reports
more