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Written for the screen and directed by Cary Fukunaga (known for True Detective (2014)), and based on the 2005 novel of the same by Uzodinma Iweala, Beats of No Nation (2015) tells the story of Agu (Abraham Attah), a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.

Serving as the formation of Iweala’s thesis work in creative writing at Harvard University, the author’s debut novel takes its title from Fela Kuti’s 1989 album with the same name. Kuti’s Beasts of No Nation album cover depicts then-famous world leaders like Ronald Regan and Margaret Thatcher as cartoon vampires with bloody fangs.

Iweala’s choice to name Beasts of No Nation after Kuti’s record suggests a strong spiritual affinity between Iweala’s novel and the life work of the musician. Kuti’s eventful life trajectory sheds some light on Iweala’s decision.

Born on October 15, 1938 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, to a Protestant minister and a feminist activist, Kuti took up music at a very young age. Originally intending to study medicine after moving to London, the Nigerian native ended up attending the Trinity College of Music, where he studied classical music and developed a taste for American jazz. In 1963, Kuti formed a band called Koola Lobitos, which he would later change to Afrika 70 and finally to Egypt 80. Throughout the 1960s, he also popularized his own unique style of music called Afrobeat, which is a combination of funk, jazz, salsa, Calypso, and traditional Nigerian music. Kuti sang in a combination of English and Yoruba, a prominent language spoken in West Africa, particularly Nigeria. His work was also in stark contrast to the commercially successful music at the time due to its duration.

Described by the Herald Sun as “Che Guevara and Bob Marley rolled into one,” Kuti became more rebellious throughout the 1970s and 80’s. His song lyrics established him as a political dissident and led to his being arrested a reported 200 times by the Nigerian government, as well as experiencing numerous beatings that left lifelong scars.

As a supporter of pan-Africanism and socialism, Kuti believed the best way for Africans to fight European imperialism was to support indigenous religions and traditional African lifestyles, which included polygamy. As a polygamist, the musician and activist once married 27 women in a single ceremony. In 1970, Kuti also established the Kalakut Republic, a communal compound in Ikeja that declared independence from Nigeria. However, the compound that housed the singer’s family, band members and recording studio was burned to the ground by military forces several years later. On August 2, 1997, Kuti died of AIDS-related complications in Lagos, Nigeria. Roughly one million people attended his funeral procession, which began at Tafawa Balewa Square and ended at Kuti’s home, Kalakuta, where he was ultimately laid to rest.

So why did Iweala choose Kuti’s Beasts of No Nation as the title for his novel? As the performer’s funeral showed, Kuti was enormously popular in his home country, which is also the native county of the source material’s author.

Kuti’s music and Agu’s right of passage also share many similarities. They both shine a light on the political, social, and cultural corruption of a troubled region, and encourage their listeners and viewers to always stay true to themselves, even in light of a situation that appears to be hopeless.