Femi Kuti: A true son of his father

Femi Kuti, the eldest son of the late king of afrobeat, Fela Kuti, has stepped into the shoes of his father with artistic talent and political astuteness.

Femi, who plays afrobeat and jazz, took the baton from his father in another way too; as a strong voice against social, economic and political evils in Nigeria.

During a public rehearsal at the New Africa Shrine in Lagos on January 23 — a few days before the 2014 Grammy Awards for which he had received his fourth nomination but lost out to Ladysmith Black Mambazo — Femi hit out at Nigerians who have praised politicians for passing the “Gay Bill.”

“The politicians have taken your money through corruption and you have kept quiet, but when they ban homosexuality you praise them,” he said during the interval of his performance.

HALL FILLED WITH MARIJUANA SMOKE
Despite warnings on posters inside the Shrine that read: Drugs Are Not Allowed In The Shrine, the hall was filled with marijuana smoke.

Marijuana is sold openly outside the Shrine with young men carrying lighters calling out, “Recharge your brain.”

The Shrine is adorned with pictures of Fela Kuti, Nelson Mandela, Bob Marley and Patrice Lumumba, among other world famous revolutionaries.

Femi’s 2013 album No Place For My Dream was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Awards in the Best World Music Album category.

He has not won a Grammy despite being nominated four times in the world music category in 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2013.

Femi was however honoured in Lagos at the Encomium White Gig in December 2013; the show was to commemorate of his fourth Grammy award nomination.

According to thisdaylive.com, Femi told the cheering audience that he was excited when the nominations were announced because the number was pruned to five from thousands of entries, was reduced to four, and yet he made it.

During the show, he spoke about Fela’s attitude to his dream of becoming an Afrobeat star. “For six years, Fela and I were not talking because he refused to teach me music, yet he had the best qualifications to do so.

Every time I went to him, he would say, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not teaching you music, but you will know music and you will be great.’ And so when I made my first hit album, after many people told me I was better as a fisherman, Fela said, ‘I no tell you sey you go become great?’”

Fela, who survived beatings, imprisonment and constant harassment at the hands of the Nigerian military government, died of Aids in August 1997.

MULTI-TALENTED

Femi was born in London on June 16, 1962, and raised in Lagos. At the age of 15, he started playing the saxophone in his father’s band, Egypt 80. He is a songwriter and also plays the trumpet, keyboards and vocals.

Femi first rose to international prominence in 1985, when he appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in the US, fronting for Egypt 80.

Fela had failed to make it to the US, having been arrested at Lagos airport and jailed on a trumped-up fraud charge.

Femi gave a show that brought the audience to its feet. Even though the fans had paid to see and listen to Fela, Femi was able to satisfy them with the same muscular sax style and self-confidence.

Two years later, Femi had formed his own band, Positive Force, and released their debut album No Cause for Alarm for Polygram Nigeria.

Wrasse Records define Femi’s version of afrobeat as “the most exciting new sound to emerge from Nigeria for years, borrowing the best elements from his father’s powerfully polyrhythmic prototype: A funky, jazzy, heavily percussive sound that took James Brown’s beat back to Africa.”

Femi’s songs, averaging five to six minutes in length, are shorter than his father’s, whose jams often topped 30 minutes when recorded, stretching to over an hour when performed live.

In 2012, Femi was inducted into the Headies Hall of Fame — the most prestigious music awards in Nigeria — and became an ambassador for Amnesty International.

This article was first published in the East African