Fela Kuti And The Case Of Questlove, Prince & 'Finding Nemo' Animated In Storyville #2
Questlove, Fela Kuti and Prince in Okayplayer's Storyville #2 animated by Hectah.
Remember the time Questlove said Prince once fired him from a DJ gig and played Finding Nemo (you know, the Pixar movie about a fish...) instead? Well it turns out there’s much more to the story. And even more amazingly, the music of Fela Kuti is at the heart of all of it. That’s right, the father of afrobeat is the key to unlocking the story of Questlove, Prince and the case of the cartoon fish.
. @Prince3EG once fired me from a dj gig in a nightclub & instead blasted the #FindingNemo dvd on the screen. #EffThatFish#FindingDory
— Questlove Gomez (@questlove) November 10, 2015
Okayplayer has the full story as told by Questlove himself. Even better, we got illustrator extraordinaire Hectah to animate the entire debacle into the latest episode of OKP’s Storyville series.
As the story goes, Questo was at a Prince show in Philly when he was asked to throw a party that night for his Purple Majesty. Questo saw it as the perfect opportunity to introduce one of his heroes to the music of another of his heroes. “Knowing how derivative Prince was to James Brown, I just knew he was going to flip over Fela Kuti’s music,” he says.
Prince apparently wasn’t loving it. Questlove was flabbergasted. “To that point, nobody fronted on Fela.” Not even “Shakara” could convince Prince of Fela’s mastery.
Of course, you’ll have to watch on to get the full story of the time Questlove tried to spin Fela at Prince’s party (hint: he was replaced by a certain fish...)
Bonus points to anyone who can spot a cameo from one of the Finding Nemo stars!
Oh, and don’t forget to wish Questlove a happy birthday today! (We’re playing Quest’s favorite Fela songs all day in his honor)