Erykah Badu | photo by Andrew Lipovsky for NBC | courtesy of the artist
Watch The Roots back Erykah Badu as she mashes “On and On” with Fela Kuti’s “Sorrow, Tears and Blood”
For the past six years, the recordings of Nigerian multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti have been reissued in a series of limited-edition vinyl box sets, curated by peers and fans including Questlove (2011’s volume 1), Ginger Baker (2012’s volume 2), and Brian Eno (2014’s volume 3).
The latest installment, Fela Kuti Vinyl Box Set 4, was just released this past Friday, and curator Erykah Badu took to the stage of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night with her old buds, The Legendary Roots Crew, to perform a medley of Fela’s “Sorrow, Tears and Blood” — from the 1977 album of the same name, recorded with Afrika 70 — alongside her own “On and On” from 1997’s Baduizm.
Watch the performance below, alongside both original recordings, and get more information on the vinyl box here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj-U0oZBL9c
(h/t Okayplayer)