45. What Does Revolution Sound Like?

On Yoruba protest songs, patriarchy and defiant Egba women

Today, enjoy a rare treat, a guest post by lanaire aderemi, brilliant scholar, musician, writer and filmmaker. She writes about her new documentary film, ‘record found here’, and pointedly about protest songs. Read my response below her eloquent prose.

10 years ago, my grandmother shared a fascinating story with me. She spoke about the brilliance, brazenness and beauty of Abeokuta women revolting against patriarchal and colonial violence in 1949. These women, she said, boycotted the heavy taxes levied on them by the British and administered by the reigning monarch.

In 2024, inspired by my grandmother’s powerful testimony of the Egba Women’s Revolt, I travelled to Abeokuta. I visited the Kuti Heritage Museum (formerly home to the Ransome-Kutis’) and the Centenary Hall, Abeokuta, interviewing women who witnessed the revolt. I also sat in Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’s home, saw her study and Fela’s piano.

lanaire at Kuti Heritage Museum. Photo credit: Nimi Adeyemo

Determined to learn abo…