Apple has released the new MacBook Air with the M5 chip and chose Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s 1971 song ‘Let’s Start’ as the campaign’s soundtrack.
Apple introduced the laptop on Tuesday and posted a promotional video on YouTube. The video features the song and shows off the laptop’s speed and slim design.
‘Let’s Start’ comes from the live album Live!, which Fela Kuti and his band Africa ’70 recorded in London with drummer Ginger Baker. This track is one of the early songs that shaped Fela’s Afrobeat style.
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Industry experts say this sync deal brings Fela’s music to a wider global audience. Apple’s launch videos reach viewers on its website, social media, and Apple Music. Using the track also introduces listeners to more of Fela’s songs, like ‘Zombie,’ ‘Water No Get Enemy,’ and ‘Expensive Shit.’
The song also reached international audiences in the 2021 western film The Harder They Fall, produced by Jay-Z and directed by Jeymes Samuel.
The movie starred Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, and LaKeith Stanfield.
This comes just weeks after Fela was given a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in February, making him the first African artist to receive the honor from The Recording Academy.