# Fela Kuti & Africa 70 — Water No Get Enemy

Fela Kuti & Africa 70’s Water No Get Enemy (1975) appears on 2 of our lists — Afrobeat and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, highest at No. 2 in Afrobeat. Every verdict, in full.

- **Released:** 1975
- **Label:** Coconut
- **On:** Afrobeat and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
- **Updated:** 2026-08-29
- **Artist:** [Fela Kuti & Africa 70](https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-kuti-and-africa-70/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/fela-kuti-and-africa-70--water-no-get-enemy/

## What 2 lists say

### No. 2 in [Afrobeat](https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/)

The gentlest thing he made and the one people who dislike political music still love. A proverb, a horn line, and Tony Allen playing the most relaxed complicated drum part imaginable.

### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/)

A proverb, a horn line, and Tony Allen playing the most relaxed complicated drum part imaginable. The way in for anyone who finds the politics forbidding.

## Analysis

12 sections, the first drop of 2 at 0:03, 0% of the way in, 34% of it spent climbing.

- **Tempo:** 123 BPM — holds throughout
- **Key:** Eb minor
- **Dynamic range:** 6.4 dB — moderate range, typical of a modern master
- **Length:** 9:52

- `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums, bass, other
- `0:31` B · **breakdown** (bar 16), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: other
- `0:45` C · **steady** (bar 23), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, other
- `1:18` D · **breakdown** (bar 40), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, other
- `2:10` E · **steady** (bar 67), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, other
- `3:20` D · **breakdown** (bar 103), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, other
- `4:27` D · **build** (bar 137), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals
- `5:32` C · **build** (bar 170), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals
- `6:46` C · **peak** (bar 208), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `7:00` D · **build** (bar 216), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, other
- `8:04` C · **peak** (bar 248), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, other
- `9:34` D · **outro** (bar 294), instrumental — the closing fall — playing: drums, bass, other

**Drops** at 0:03 (bar 2), 0:45 (bar 23). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Water%20No%20Get%20Enemy) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jx2qcKd1-0)

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