SANDRA IZSADORE

SANDRA IZSADORE is a singer composer who in 1969 met and revitalized Africa’s revolutionary genius FELA ANIKULAPO-KUTI. Upon meeting Sandra, Fela’s musical and political ideas changed radically, thus Afro-Beat was born. Sandra came back to visit a highly popular and successful Fela in Nigeria in 1976. Incidentally, Upside Down is the only song in the many albums released by Fela that was sung by a female lead vocalist.

The song portrays a worldly travelled African, who searches in the dictionary, and finds the definition of upside down - a perfect description of the African situation. ‘I have travelled widely all over the world like any professor.... ’ Fela makes Sandra sing in the album: “The thing I have seen I will like to talk about upside -up and downside-down, in overseas! Everything is Organise. Their system organise! They have their own names!” But back home in Africa, everything is: ‘head for down, yansh for up! Everything is disorganise!’ Meaning back home, everything is totally disorganised - Upside Down

In the dedication of the French version of my book: Fela, Why Blackman Carry Shit, she is described as the one who opened the door of the citadel of knowledge transmitted to us at the University of Kalakuta Republic.