Born in London, educated in Lagos, nurtured by American beats.
The challenge of sustaining the musical legacy of a legendary parent can be a near-suffocating burden - just ask Julian Lennon. However, the chance to learn from a parent's mistakes and inject fresh artistic energy into one's sonic heritage could propel the student to transcend the teacher. Femi Anikulapo Kuti stands on the cusp of doing just that. Three decades into a solo career that began in the daunting shadow of his father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Femi Kuti is facing the prospects of extending his father's legend by actually eclipsing it, he is indeed improving on his father's work, both musically and politically.
Since Fela died from AIDS in August of 1997, his stature has risen to god-like proportions among the international dance music community and especially among the millions of Nigerians on whose behalf Fela constantly prodded the government over his 30-year career. It is a widely held belief that since Fela was the most ardent protester against the injustices that occurred in both post-colonial Nigeria and on the entire continent of Africa, Femi has also not shied away from Fela's aura, and he is vocal about his desire to surpass it. "It's the heritage, and you can not take one piece without the other piece," he says. "It's about the African way of life and this is my life. My life revolves around the politics and the spiritual way and the way we live, so it's all part of it. And I think that the people here already see me like that."
One reason that Femi stands to be more of a galvanizing political force is that he is much less antagonistic than his father, who was famous for his biting diatribes on government corruption, military rule and other forms of oppression. Femi has certainly inherited his father's ability to be a thorn in the side of the government via political commentary within his songs, but it is more likely that the Nigerian government would seek to work in cooperation with Femi.
The reason for that fact lies in Femi's lifestyle choices, many of which are directly at odds with those of his father. Fela's affection for polygamy (he once married 27 of his dancers during a concert), condom-free sex, his advocacy of marijuana use, provided the Nigerian government with the opportunity to repeatedly harass him, with the hope of suppressing his vocal political protests. Fela was arrested numerous times, mostly on unfounded charges, and was imprisoned four times.
Femi saw his father's lifestyle as a counterpoint to the dramatic impact his music was having on the politics and the culture of Nigeria and of Africa as a whole. He decided early on that he wanted to couple all of Fela's political potency with some righteousness and self-determination of his own. Femi has only had one wife, doesn't smoke or drink and is an advocate of safe sex, making him a much more palatable spokesman for the government. Femi was certain to maintain his father's anti-establishment sensibilities, though, and he founded MASS, the Movement Against Second Slavery, to spread the word of the effects of government corruption and American and European business interests on post-colonial Africa. He has since distanced himself from that organization due to strategic differences with those that led the group in his absence. Regardless, he continues his quest of educating the masses that the ideals of the democratic system imposed upon African countries by outside interests may not be in the best interests of African people. "I grew up in it and I've spent all my life in Nigeria and I know the politics of Nigeria, and the music is a big part of my goal to spread the message," he says.
His eponymous release in 1995 was well received critically, Femi then released his second full-length LP, Shoki Shoki, along with his band Positive Force on Barclay-Polygram in the fall of 1999, and the response on dance-floors in Africa and Europe has been incredible. In 2000 Kora All Africa Music Awards, Femi won Best Male Artist and Best Song for the sexually charged "Beng Beng Beng." Polygram's merger with Universal allowed for a full U.S. release of the album on MCA Records, and the exposure meant that Femi could bring his father's music to a much wider audience.
That was exactly the strategy going into making Shoki Shoki, says Kuti. While Fela had a penchant for 30-minute songs laden with sinuous brass and percussion jams, Femi made sure to keep his tracks taut and combustible, making them more accessible while maintaining their improvisational nature.
"I wanted to do something very compact so that it wouldn't bore the new listener," he says. "Because imagine somebody who is not an Afro-beat lover. You have to catch their attention immediately. My father's songs were more for fanatics and for people who heard him over the years and heard his transformation, and those people are ready to listen to forty-five minutes or even an hour. But somebody who is going to listen to Afro-beat for the first time, what's going to catch his attention? Why would he want to go through an hour of listening to numbers, because he's already used to R&B, he's used to be-bop, he's used to hip hop, he's used to rock, he's not going to want to sit down anywhere for one hour listening to one track."
The explosiveness and rhythmic call-and-response chants of Shoki Shoki made it an immediate darling with some of the top DJs in Europe, and an entire album of remixes, featuring the likes of Kerry Chandler, and Da Lata, was relesed. One of the remixes was Femi's black pride anthem "Blackman Know Yourself" by The Roots, carriers of the integrity torch within American black music culture.
With his next album Fight to Win he spent time in the studio with Common, He has also spent time working with Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo, and is clearly open to the possibility of collaborating with other American artists in the future.
"I really love to work with people who know what they are doing and who are very conscious and conscious of their surroundings," says Femi. "I would really love to work with any good artists really. I'm quite simple and free, and I like experimenting and I just love playing music at the end of the day. They all knew about my father, so it was like, 'Oh wow,' and we got to talking politics and things like that. They all wanted to know about Nigeria, so it was quite interesting."
The infusion of elements of American hip-hop and soul music as well as modern dance music techniques have already helped Femi create his own style of Afro-beat for the modern era on Shoki Shoki. The aforementioned fellowships, as well as others that are sure to follow given his remarkable talent and willingness to experiment, are exactly the types of bonds that soul music needs. Whereas Fela created Afro-beat by incorporating both the James Brown-era American funk and the improvisational jazz attitude of John Coltrane and Miles Davis into his country's traditional music, Femi and those lucky enough to work with him could give birth to the next phase of international soul music. "I live for music. I mean, all I do in Lagos is just practice and write songs and think about what to do next musically," says Femi. "I can't imagine my life without it."
UNICEF
UNICEF appointed Femi as Goodwill Ambassador on 6 June 2002, calling him an important figure in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Kuti’s appointment broadens UNICEF’s reach to young people worldwide.
Thank you man! Hope to see you again in Croatia; you should come this time little souther than Zagreb- perhaps to Ploče :-) I enjoyed your concert and zhe whole energy produced!
Thank you SO much for the add. Big admirer of your music, and as I missing the continent ( used to live there ), what helps is listening to you. I wish you peace @ home, and thanks for the great music...best selene
Greetings And Honor For Femi Kuti, Respect To You !!!!!!! I Give Thanks For Reaching Out, Making The Connection And The Friendship !!!!!!! Blessed Love
