[5] Kuti played the title track on his 1986 North American tour and promoted it in interviews.

[4] Kuti began thinking about the album while in jail for infractions related to foreign currency and wrote the songs after being released.

[11][12][13] Kuti's use of the phrase basket mouth acknowledges his music's responsibility to protest.

[14] The album cover depicts P. W. Botha, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher as horned bloodsuckers.

"[23] AllMusic wrote: "After a few so-so records in the early '80s, Beasts of No Nation was a strong (at times stunning) return to form for Kuti and signaled that his political beliefs kept him from becoming musically lazy.