Fela Kuti The Best of the Black President
4xLP 180g / lacquers by Cicely Balston
Hand-numbered edition of 1,000
Text “VMP” to (314) 300-9979, then enter album code 101538
4xLP 180g / lacquers by Cicely Balston
Hand-numbered edition of 1,000
Text “VMP” to (314) 300-9979, then enter album code 101538
The hand-numbered 4×LP set, limited to 1,000 copies with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston, arrives during Felabration in the year Fela became the first African artist to receive the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Vinyl Me, Please (VMP) released The Best of the Black President, a hand-numbered 4×LP Fela Kuti box set first announced in 2024 and never shipped. The release landed on October 15, 2026, which would have been Fela’s 88th birthday.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti created Afrobeat in Lagos in the late 1960s and 1970s, fusing highlife, jazz, funk and Yoruba rhythm into long, hypnotic songs that denounced the corruption and brutality of Nigeria’s military rulers. He paid for it. After “Zombie” mocked the army, soldiers raided and burned his compound, the Kalakuta Republic, in 1977. He kept recording anyway. His influence now runs through hip-hop, jazz and the global Afrobeats wave, and this year he became the first African artist to receive the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The box was announced under VMP’s previous ownership and was never delivered. VNYL Inc., which has operated VMP since 2025, completed production and licensed the release from Partisan Records.
“It’s impossible not to be moved by how much Fela Kuti risked for his music. He made some of the most fearless recordings of the last century. This box deserved to exist, so we finished it. His birthday is the right day to put it out.”
NICK ALT, CEO OF VMP
The box set arrives during Felabration, the annual festival held in his honor in Lagos.
About the box
FORMAT 4xLP, full-color jackets
WEIGHT 180 gram
COLORWAY Black
EDITION Hand-numbered, 1,000 copies
LACQUERS Cut by Cicely Balston, two-time MPG Mastering Engineer of the Year
EXTRAS “Fela for President” bumper sticker
LICENSED FROM Partisan Records
ALBUM CODE 101538
Offer details
PRICE $149 for a three-month VMP membership
BOX SET VALUE $179
INCLUDED The Best of the Black President as the first record of the membership, followed by two additional months
RENEWAL Auto-renews at $149 every three months
AVAILABILITY US
HOW TO JOIN Text “VMP” to (314) 300-9979, then enter album code 101538
More releases: Promises Kept · Back to Vinyl Me, Please
Vinyl Me, Please (VMP) released The Best of the Black President, a hand-numbered 4×LP Fela Kuti box set first announced in 2024 and never shipped. The release landed on October 15, 2026, which would have been Fela’s 88th birthday.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti created Afrobeat in Lagos in the late 1960s and 1970s, fusing highlife, jazz, funk and Yoruba rhythm into long, hypnotic songs that denounced the corruption and brutality of Nigeria’s military rulers. He paid for it. After “Zombie” mocked the army, soldiers raided and burned his compound, the Kalakuta Republic, in 1977. He kept recording anyway. His influence now runs through hip-hop, jazz and the global Afrobeats wave, and this year he became the first African artist to receive the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The box was announced under VMP’s previous ownership and was never delivered. VNYL Inc., which has operated VMP since 2025, completed production and licensed the release from Partisan Records.
“It’s impossible not to be moved by how much Fela Kuti risked for his music. He made some of the most fearless recordings of the last century. This box deserved to exist, so we finished it. His birthday is the right day to put it out.”
NICK ALT, CEO OF VMP
The box set arrives during Felabration, the annual festival held in his honor in Lagos.
About the box
FORMAT 4xLP, full-color jackets
WEIGHT 180 gram
COLORWAY Black
EDITION Hand-numbered, 1,000 copies
LACQUERS Cut by Cicely Balston, two-time MPG Mastering Engineer of the Year
EXTRAS “Fela for President” bumper sticker
LICENSED FROM Partisan Records
ALBUM CODE 101538
Offer details
PRICE $149 for a three-month VMP membership
BOX SET VALUE $179
INCLUDED The Best of the Black President as the first record of the membership, followed by two additional months
RENEWAL Auto-renews at $149 every three months
AVAILABILITY US
HOW TO JOIN Text “VMP” to (314) 300-9979, then enter album code 101538
More releases: Promises Kept · Back to Vinyl Me, Please