Pat Thomas Opens Up On Wee-Smoking Encounter With Nigerian Music Icon Fela Kuti
Veteran Ghanaian musician, Pat Thomas has fondly recounted how the late Fela Kuti nearly made him run mad after he joined him in a smoking session.
Pat Thomas vividly recalled his unforgettable trip to Nigeria with his close friend and manager, Sunny, in an exclusive conversation with Blakk Rasta on 3FM.
In his words, they came to meet the legendary Fela at one of his renowned clubs. Pat Thomas discovered himself in the compelling presence of the musical talent as they entered Fela’s club. There, Fela, who was well renowned for his love of marijuana, persuaded Pat to join him in smoking the fabled “Fela Goro” weed.
“I remember I went to Fela’s house in Nigeria, myself and a friend who was managing me, his name is Sunny, a very good friend of Fela. And it happened that he took me to Nigeria, we went to Fela’s club, and the next day he took me to the house, and it is this weed that I am talking about, you know Fela had something they call Fela Goro,” he narrated.
The Highlife singer said no sooner had he inhaled the weed than he started feeling dizzy and seeing stars all over, literally.
“So, as Fela saw me, he took one, and then he gave me one (weed). My manager told me, ‘charley try some.’ Charley, me this thing, I fear, but I wanted to show guy guy to Fela that me too, adey smoke. So, the moment I smoked, what happened to me, I wished you were there, I was feeling dizzy badly, but he was just smoking, I nearly went mad,” he added.
He told Blakk Rasta that the rare moment with the Nigerian great is one of the most unforgettable moments of his life.
Fela Kuti was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pioneer of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz.
At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa’s most “challenging and charismatic music performers”. AllMusic described him as “a musical and sociopolitical voice” of international significance.
First known as the Afro-Spot and then the Afrika Shrine, Kuti established a nightclub in the Empire Hotel where he routinely gave performances and presided over customized Yoruba traditional ceremonies in remembrance of his people’s ancestral religion.
