On the latest episode of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, godmother of Soul Erykah Badu stepped up to the stage as the evening’s music guest, during which she performed a medley of her hit On and On and a cover of Fela Kuti’s Sorrow, Tears and Blood.
The original version was released in 1977 by the Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer, and is from his two-track album of the same name.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Erykah Badu had curated the next instalment of an ongoing series of Fela Kuti box sets. Entitled Fela Kuti Box Set #4, the collection of vinyl reissues was released on 15 December via Knitting Factory Records. Badu called Kuti a “Fucking Genius” and advised fans to listen to the box set “with a nice blunt… with a nice slow burn”.
This isn’t Badu’s first tribute to the pioneer either. Previously, she’s curated a Spotify playlist of her favourite Kuti tracks as a tribute to the artist. It featured the tracks Coffin for Head of State and Army Arrangement amongst others.
This year, Badu celebrated the 20th anniversary of her debut album Baduizm.
Watch her cover of Sorrow, Tears and Blood via the player above.
