The album criticized the Nigerian military using the zombie metaphor, enraging the government and leading to a brutal attack on the Kalakuta Republic. Soldiers burned the commune, destroyed Kuti’s studio, and fatally injured his mother. In response, Kuti delivered her coffin to army barracks and wrote Coffin for Head of State and Unknown Soldier. In 1978, he married 27 women and was later banned from Ghana after riots at a concert. That year, he also played the Berlin Jazz Festival, after which most of his band left amid rumors about his political ambitions.