Q+A: Jibola Fagbamiye and Conor McCreery on Their New Fela Kuti Graphic Novel
Interview with Felavangelists!
Jibola Fagbamiye and Conor McCreery released their graphic novel Fela: Music Is the Weapon today on Amistad, and we are thrilled to share a Q+A with them!
Tamara Palmer/Music Book Club: How did the two of you meet and decide to collaborate on this gorgeous book?
Conor McCreery: Jibola and I were introduced by a mutual friend, Eva Salinas. I used to throw these “Bring A Stranger” parties, and Jibola was her stranger. Eva thought our creative energies would mesh. She was 100% right. We hit it off right away and became friends.
Then, a few years later, Jibola came to me for thoughts on a comic he wanted to do. It was focused on a very specific moment in Fela Kuti’s life – and his ideas for using visuals were incredible. I told him I thought it was a great idea, and gave him my thoughts, and then he went off to work on it and…
Jibola Fagbamiye: That’s right. Talking to Conor was honestly the best decision I could have made. At first, I didn’t realize how much he already knew about Fela. But when he came back with his feedback, it was so sharp that I thought, this guy has to be on the book with me. Like NOW!
Originally, I imagined an 80–100 page graphic novel. Then Conor shows up with a draft that’s 350 pages. I nearly had a heart attack. I even told him in a stern voice, “BRO! Who do you think is going to draw 350 FUCKING pages?” And he just looked at me and said, “Not me … I’m just the writer.”
But the thing was, the content was so strong, so rich, that there was nothing to cut. I loved him and hated him for it if I’m being honest. And at that moment it was clear: Conor wasn’t just giving feedback, he had to be part of the team.
What was your working process like? How long did it take from start to finish?
Jibola: At the very beginning, I had just a couple of pages written, an intro I was really proud of… but I wasn’t quite sure how to move the story forward. My original idea was to center everything around the attack on Kalakuta on Feb 18, 1977, then weave in flashbacks to give context about Fela’s life and why all the drama was happening.
When Conor came in, he was able to take that vision and retool it into something with much more structure. Together, we mapped out every scene in what’s called a beat sheet, think of it as a kind of blueprint for the story. From there, we did deep dives on each scene, talking it through until we landed on something we were both happy with. Then Conor would go off and write, I’d sketch, and we’d iterate until both the words and the art felt polished. Along the way, we debated and wrestled with difficult themes that pushed both of us in meaningful ways. There were even some scenes we really loved that we had to cut, but looking back now, I think the whole piece is perfect as it stands. I wouldn’t change a thing.
In terms of time, the process, from those first pages to the finished manuscript and artwork, took several years. It was definitely a marathon, not a sprint, but that collaboration is what gave the book its depth and balance.
Conor: It was the longest I have ever worked on one single project. In the same time we worked on Fela, I think I got four volumes of Kill Shakespeare out! That time was needed though, because, when you’re dealing with the legacy of someone as influential and vital as Fela rushing things doesn’t work.
In that sense our process was a bit like Fela’s. He was legendary for workshopping and workshopping his music, always changing and tightening and exploring new ideas. Fela used to stop playing music after he recorded it, because the ‘finished’ songs represented where he had been as a musician and he always wanted audience members to engage him where he was.
What are your favorite Fela songs or albums?
Conor: Ha. I’ll be the basic one. “Zombie” is incredible for so many reasons, but it is also a really accessible vibe – my kids, 12, 10 and 5 are always asking for it, and walking around singing “Zombie, oh Zombie.”
“Water No Get Enemy” was the first Fela song I ever heard, so that one speaks to me because I associate it with that sense of discovery you get when you discover something amazing for the first time.
I also like “O.D.O.O” – I think it’s a good example of the transition Fela was making musically between Africa 70 and Egypt 80.
Finally, I’ll toss in “Lai Se.” This was an early Koola Lobitos track, and I just kinda think it slaps.
Jibola: Conor has some good ones there but for me, “Beasts of No Nation” has a special place in my heart because it’s the 1st Fela song I truly listened to. It’s the type of song that really gives you insight on Fela’s view on foreign policy. And Fela had some banger lines “Animal in human skin” referring to politicians, “Disunited, United Nations.” And it also sounds great.
Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense is also a great album because it has two other songs I love: “Look and Laugh,” which is my all-time Fela favorite, and “Just Like That.” The whole album is a banger.
One of my most special interviews ever was with Femi Kuti. Have you heard from him, Seun or other family members about this project, or did you work directly with them?
Jibola: We didn’t collaborate with the family on this project. At heart, we’re really just two Fela nerds, or maybe even Felavangelists (a term I literally just made up lol) who became completely obsessed with telling this story. Our goal from the start was to celebrate and honor Fela’s genius and his incredible contributions to music and culture.
It would be an honor to connect with the family in the future, of course. We’ll be sending them copies of the book once it’s out, and our hope is that when they read it, they’ll feel we’ve paid tribute to their father in a beautiful and respectful way.
Conor: One of the highlights of the creative process was going to see Femi when he came to Toronto a few years ago. We were deep in the middle of this very long journey, and I think both of us were feeling like it would be nice to be done, to not keep pushing to make the book better. Femi’s music lifted our spirits, and re-energized us to go back and attack what we had done and to sharpen it until it was ready to, metaphorically, kill.
Do you have any other favorite music-centric graphic novels that you could recommend to our readers?
Conor: It’s funny, I sort of stayed away from this genre for about a decade, because I didn’t want to unconsciously take too many tricks from other creators. But I have a few thoughts here:
The Fifth Beatle – by Vivek Tiwary, Andrew Robinson and Kyle Baker is amazing because it somehow takes a new angle on a band you thought you knew everything about.
Bix by Scott Chantler is just incredible, it’s an almost dialogue-free epic journey through the life of 1920’s jazz icon, Leon ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke. Chantler is one of the great cartoonists working today, and this might be his opus.
The Wicked + The Divine – By Kieron Gillien and Jamie McKelvie is not about any particular musician, but it imagines a world where pop stars are actually the avatars of Gods and provide these Gods the ‘worshippers’ they need to have power. And it’s a murder mystery.
And let’s also go with Blue in Green – by Ram V and Anand RK – It takes its title from a Miles Davis composition, and appropriately its steeped in jazz as it follows a young ambitious musician who is literally feeding the monsters of ambition and inspiration to try to accomplish his goals.
Jibola: Now that I think about it, I haven’t read a ton of music-centric graphic novels …but Blue in Green? That one deep hit. Anand RK’s illustrations were a massive inspiration for me. Studied his Instagram sketches like gospel. He’s just THAT GUY.
Also, Black and Proud by Xavier Fauthoux is a beautiful deep dive into James Brown’s life, shows how he rose from Jim Crow south to becoming a global icon who reshaped pop music. And like Fela, he ran his band like a military operation.
Previously in our Q+A series:
Al Shipley on His Brand New Book on Baltimore Club Music
Paul D. Miller on Lead Belly and Digital Fiction, His Upcoming Book About Algorithms and Music Discovery
Martin Popoff on Guns N’ Roses at 40 and Writing 135 Books
Katie Bain on Her Forthcoming Book Desert Dreams: The Music, Style, and Allure of Coachella
Colin Steven on Publishing Electronic Music and Counterculture Books at Velocity Press
Yoel Gaetán on Chronicling Punk in Puerto Rico with Forgotten Youth Records and Books
Jason Pettigrew on Writing a Book About Ministry’s Third Album
Melissa Locker on Her Brand New Book About Oasis Fans
Ira Robbins on Publishing Peter Silverton’s ‘London Calling New York New York’ and What’s Coming from Trouser Press Books
Donna-Claire Chesman on How CRYBABY Came to Her in a Dream
Cary Baker on His First Book and How Busking Can Help Main Street USA
Gina Arnold on The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock and Working with Academic Publishers
Tom Beaujour on His New Lollapalooza Book and Producing Successful Oral Histories
John Morrison on Boyz II Men and Chronicling Philadelphia Music History
Mark Angelo Harrison on Telling the Spiral Tribe Sound System Story
Lyndsey Parker on Writing a ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ Memoir with Mercy Fontenot
Christina Ward on Running Feral House, a 36-Year-Old Indie Book Company
Ali Smith on Speedball Baby and Telling Stories Without Shame
Arusa Qureshi on Her Love Letter to Women in UK Hip-Hop
Lily Moayeri on Her Favorite Music Books and Writing from a Personal Place
Megan Volpert on Why Alanis Morissette Matters and Writing 15 Books in 18 Years
Mark Swartz on Biggie + Yoko Ono as a Crime-Fighting Duo and Other Fictional Ideas
Annie Zaleski on Cher, Stevie Nicks and Pushing Past Writing Fears
Nelson George on His Next Book and Making Mixtapes in Paper Form
Michaelangelo Matos on Writing and Editing Music Books
