Fela Kuti’s ‘Zombie’ & ‘Expensive Shit’ Are Getting 50th Anniversary Editions

Felabration is starting a little bit early, as it’s been announced that Fela Kuti’s iconic recordings, Zombie and Expensive Shit, are getting special 50th anniversary editions this year. 

Zombie, the landmark Fela album whose title track served as a cutting attack and critique on the Nigerian government and its soldiers (irrefutably the zombies in this story). The album is getting reimagined packaging and a new T-shirt from American designer Tremaine Emory of Denim Tears. 

Emory’s new packaging still pays tribute to Lemi Ghariokwu’s iconic album art while adding images of the New Afrika Shrine, taken by Bolaji Alonge, to a limited-edition vinyl release dropping on October 9. Only 1,000 limited-edition Zombie vinyl copies are being printed, so get yours now. 

"It's an honor to work on this 50th anniversary vinyl release of Zombie, and also some apparel,” Emory says in a press statement. “Fela is one of the most inspiring artists of any genre of art to me that has ever existed. The music and the lyrics are just as apparent today as they were when they were first made, hoping for more people to stand for the things he stood for and his family still stands for.” 

The anniversary editions follow Fela’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Nigerian legend becoming the first African artist to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys.

The Expensive Shit 50th anniversary edition, available later this year on November 20, is designed by Tarin Karimbux. 

It will be “pressed on gold nugget vinyl, housed inside a trifold jacket that features elements of the original vinyl packaging alongside newly licensed images from Femi Bankole Osunla and John Collins, a dossier envelope with poster, print, and newspaper clipping, wrapped with a metallic gold foil band,” a press description states. 

You can pre-order the new editions of Fela’s Zombie here and Expensive Shit here now.