On Becoming Femi Kuti: The Making Of An Afrobeat Legend

‘Do you know where his house is?’ I asked the cab driver.

‘Yes, now, everybody knows where he lives.’

My journey to Femi Kuti’s house was a long way from home. About 13km long. But I was determined to make the trip. The last time I spoke with Femi Kuti was on his 58th birthday. We had just the option of a quick phone call because of the Covid-19 lockdown in Lagos, Nigeria.

This time, I met the renowned Afrobeat artiste in his sanctuary – his home on Ayawoele Road in Iju, Lagos State. I don’t know why I assumed that the Afrobeat legend would be living at the New Afrika Shrine. His home, 9.7 km from where he grew up, in what is now Kalakuta Museum at Allen, Ikeja, is tucked in Iju, a suburban neighbourhood founded by the Egba Warriors leader Gbalefa, in the 19th Century, according to historical records. The Egbas, a subgroup of the Yoruba people, an ethnic group of western Nigeria, settled in Iju as they found the terrain ideal for an ambush in guerrilla warfare as the invasion of the Dahomean Amazons loomed.

Fast forward many years, and Juju legend Sir Shina Peters built his industry-defining home at the peak of his career in the early 90s at Iju. The state’s waterworks are also located here, some 1,000 feet below the Adiyan river’s confluence and the Iju stream. For many years, water supply primarily to the residents of Ikoyi and Surulere came from here.

Iju is one of the main stops on the Agbado-Marina Red Line, one of Lagos’ longest running railway lines. This train station connects commuters to Agege, Agbado, Kajola, Papalanto, Yaba, Ikeja-Along, Ebute-Meta. It was built over 60 years ago during the British rule in Nigeria. It is part of an ongoing project to connect Lagos’s bustling coastal city to Nigeria’s third-largest city, Ibadan.

High brown walls distinguish the Kuti’s house from others on Ayawoele Road in Iju, Lagos State. Photo: Google Maps. 

The Kuti’s house has high brown walls and an imposing black gate. Added to the plants bordering the house, it seemed like they didn’t want anyone indoors. Once we knocked on the gate, though, it was a different vibe entirely. As I walked into the compound, I could hear someone practising on the saxophone. The compound is extensive, with various houses in its expanse, surrounding a wide field. I could already picture a Kuti family gathering. The area would take everyone.

As my colleague Kingsley and the camera assistant set up for the interview, I took my time to view the spacious living room where a woman in residence led us. Various artworks hung on several spots on the wall. There were also family pictures – a picture of Femi Kuti performing at a concert, a Fela portrait. As I admired the decorative stools fixed at several corners, Femi walks down, saxophone in hand and a tiny frown on his forehead. We had cut his practice short. He brightened up when he saw us and remembered we had only an hour to take him away from his beloved instrument.

Femi Kuti has been surrounded by music right from a young age. At age 15, he started playing instruments. Photo: femikuti.com. 

Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti is someone whose story has wowed and inspired many worldwide. To tell it right, one needs to go back to the beginning. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of women’s rights activist Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. He was born in London on June 16, 1962, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria.

Femi Kuti has been surrounded by music right from a young age. At age 15, he started playing instruments. He began with the saxophone and soon moved on to the trumpet and the keyboard. However, he would later become known with the saxophone. He joined his father’s band, Egypt 80, shortly after that.

He tells me how much of a terrifying first experience it was:

‘It was very intimidating and scary. I was shaking and terrified. That was with Fela’s track called ‘Africa Centre of the World’. Immediately we got back; we recorded the song in Ijebu-Ode. I can’t remember the studio’s name, and one very popular musician owned it at that time. It might be Haruna Ishola, though I’m not sure. Then we came back to Lagos, and I joined the band immediately. He started to give me numbers to play like ‘Perambulator’, ‘Power Show’. He said to find parts for my alto saxophone. Slowly but surely, I became part of the band. And then, of course, I started to get better.’

Femi Kuti is not just an instrumentalist. He is also a singer and a songwriter. His earliest introduction to songwriting from his father, Fela, was most unconventional.

‘It is also one of my fondest memories of my father’, he says. ‘There was a time that he would be on the toilet, and he would send for me. He would say, ‘Oya get pen and paper and start writing’. He would dictate one of his songs. ‘Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense’ was one of the songs I wrote down for him that way.’

Femi Kuti is not just an instrumentalist. He is also a singer and a songwriter. Photo: femikuti.com. 

Femi rose to the position of assistant band leader before he decided to set out on his own. In 1986, he started his band, Positive Force. He began establishing himself as an artiste, independent of his father’s massive structure and legacy. Contrary to what anyone might think, Femi Kuti did not have an easy start as a solo artiste. His father’s fanbase did not appreciate that he left. Even Fela was in opposition, which left Femi, as he tells me, perplexed.

‘I don’t understand their problem. Even Fela had that problem. He would go on stage and say he doesn’t understand my problem. The backlash was horrible. I mean, I used to have nightmares. It was probably, easily, one of the most horrible, apart from the beatings and the burning of Kalakuta, downsides of my life then.’

How ironic it is that someone, who learned from an original musician such as Fela, would later be accused of the crime of not imitating his music. If anything, what people should have expected from him was even more originality. For Femi, frustration would be the slightest emotion he felt at the time.

‘I had all these songs and things I wanted to say building up in me, and I wanted to express it. I also did not understand the idea of waiting for one’s father to retire before the son picked up. To me, it felt too much like ‘I was waiting for my father to die before I shine’, which was not correct.’

And so he left. Then he started a band with his sisters and friend.

(L-R) Sola Kuti, Femi Kuti and Yeni Kuti were founding members of The Positive Force, Femi Kuti’s band. Photo: Instagram/Femikuti. 

‘When I started my band, I left my father and moved to my mother’s. My friend at the time, Dele Sosimi, moved with me. He joined my father’s band because of me. So when I left, I called my elder sister and my younger sister, and I told them I want to start a band. My mother gave us the name, ‘Positive Force’. I wanted a more revolutionary name, so I called my band ‘Universal Revolutionary Front’ because I knew I would be very political universally.

My mother thought that was too much. It would make people shy away. She said since it’s a positive action, give it ‘Positive Force’. It shows that you left your father for good reasons. So the four of us started the Positive Force. The first time we performed was at Unilag on December 13, 1986. I will never forget that day. It was a Friday. I even remember what I wore. Yellow and black.’

With the home crowd still hedging their bets on whether to openly appreciate Femi’s music or continue the antagonism fueled by his father’s fans, Femi quickly grabbed the opportunity to go international.

His international career began in 1988 when the French Cultural Centre in Lagos and Christian Mousset invited him to perform at the Festival d’Angoulême (France). He also performed at the New Morning Club in Paris and the Moers Festival in Germany. He went on to tour Europe and then entered America. All the while, back home in Nigeria, many remained sceptical about his music and critical of his style.

Femi has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and festivals. Photo: GrimyGoods. 

Though Fela had education – he studied at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London – he didn’t let Femi complete his studies. Femi had to drop out of school. He tells Netng, ‘My father didn’t want me to study music because I was more of an experimental guinea pig to prove a point that you do not need the education to be successful. He wanted to use me to prove to his brothers that his education was not what made him. So I was like a guinea pig that I vehemently protested. However, when I became successful and complained again, my father said, ‘are you not famous? Are you not successful? Oya, shut up.’

And Femi Kuti indeed became very successful.

He released his debut album, ‘No Cause For Alarm’, in 1989 and came out of his father’s shadow. He followed with ‘Mind Your Own Business (M.Y.O.B.)’ in 1991. In 1994, Motown, home to Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and more, signed Femi Kuti. An enormous feat for a young artiste. He released a self-named album ‘Femi Kuti’ in 1995, which featured the global hit ‘Wonder Wonder’.

A highly successful tour of the United States followed. Femi Kuti enjoyed mass success by releasing more albums. ‘Fight To Win’ (2001) included several U.S. musicians, including Common, Mos Def, and Jaguar Wright. He has nominations for several awards, including World Best Live Act and World’s Best Entertainer of the Year at the World Music Awards. In 2000, he won World’s Best Selling African Artiste at the World Music Award.

A poster of Femi Kuti and The Positive Force 2019 Europe Tour dates. Photo: Femikuti.com. 

Femi has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and festivals and collaborated with iconic musicians across a wide array of genres, most recently Coldplay on their song ‘Arabesque,’ featured on their latest album ‘Everyday Life’.

And he has received four Grammy nominations (2003, 2010, 2012, and 2013). Many had hoped he would be the first homegrown Nigerian musician to bring home a Grammy, but that spot now belongs to Burna Boy, who scored the country’s first this year. Femi seems content. He told Netng he believes that his career does not depend on winning a Grammy. He said, ‘If it were to be so, I would have won one by now.’

He pauses to wipe the sweat off his forehead. ‘Oh, If you knew me back then, you wouldn’t like me now. I was arrogant! Ah! Nobody could talk to me.’ he offers.

When you hear the Kuti name, you associate it with a certain quality of music and lifestyle. Fela Kuti was known for his political songs, revelry with women, and his penchant for marijuana. For a while, his son, Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti followed in those steps.

‘There are so many places I should have died. I was driving a car at 12; police chased me on the road all the time. I would drive a Range Rover to school. I had a power bike – Harley Davidson. I used to do that express – Maryland to Surulere, in five minutes. Vroom! In five minutes, going 120 on the bike.’

Being Fela’s son gave him a level of street credibility, which he used to the fullest as a young man. Femi Kuti told Netng how he would crash clubs to disrupt parties with his presence then drive away. He even stopped practising music for a while. That was until his grandmother put her foot down.

Yeni and Femi Kuti, with their maternal grandmother, Stella Taylor, fondly called Nanny. Photo: Instagram/Femikuti. 

‘I moved back to my mother’s house, and my grandmother gave me the washing of my life. It was my maternal grandmother that saved me. I was so arrogant and such a horrible person. By this time, his fanbase loved me. So I would dress like Fela, do things like Fela. My maternal grandmother told me, ‘I don’t care whose son you are; Fela’s son or no Fela’s son. In this house, you better behave. You bring your silly, bloody ass here. You call yourself a musician, and you have not picked up your horn in two weeks, and you call yourself the son of a musician, you bloody sod. By this time, she is swearing. She spoke to me so much that day, and everything she said was so true. I cried so much that day.

The next day, I picked up my horn. That was what saved me. By the time she finished with me, I had become humble. I look back, and I would think, ‘what was I even doing?’ That woman saved my life during those years I spent with her. No one would have liked the man I was then.’

Since that day, Femi Kuti has practised daily, and his dedication shows through the quality of his music and performances. On May 15, 2017, Femi Anikulapo Kuti set a Guinness world record under the catalogue of a single note held on a saxophone. He set the record at 51 min 35 seconds. I feel it is worthy to note that Femi Kuti was 55 years old at the time. The peak was first set in December 1997 by legendary saxophonist Kenny G when he held an E-Flat for over 45 minutes.

Femi Kuti’s music continues to stand the test of time. Besides the production’s quality and beauty, a lot of his music speaks on society’s situation. It condemns corrupt leaders and encourages people to live better lives, speaks to the heart of many Nigerians, people worldwide, and issues that matter most.

‘Oh look, it’s Netng’, interjected Made Kuti as he walked into the living room. He had just come in to greet his dad, so I used the opportunity to congratulate him on his debut album. ‘Thank you very much,’ he softly spoke while trying not to disrupt our interview.

‘You must be very proud of him,’ I offered to Femi Kuti as Made left the room.

‘Proud is an understatement. I can’t begin to express the joy I get seeing my children succeed at what they do.’

On February 5, 2021, Femi Kuti released his 11th studio album titled ‘Stop The Hate’. This album is unique because it is a joint album release with his firstborn son, Made Kuti. Made also released his debut album titled ‘For(e)ward’. Both albums are jointly named ‘Legacy +’.

‘See, every album is special in its way, but this is even more special because I released it with my son. And being more mature, more experienced, you could say it’s my best work yet.’

Femi Kuti released a joint album with his son, Made Kuti titled ‘Legacy +’ on February 5, 2021. Photo: Optimus Dammy. 

With tracks like ‘Privatisation’, ‘Na Bigmanism Spoil Government’ and ‘Land Grab’, Femi continues to draw attention to issues his father sang about. On other songs like ‘Young Boy/Young Girl’ and ‘Set Your Minds and Soul Free’, Femi speaks to the people. He encourages them to aim for higher and better than what is around them. It seemed like a message to both the government and the people reflecting on the events that happened in October 2020: the End SARS protests – an outcry from young people all over the country against police brutality. But Femi was quick to correct that assumption.

‘I completed the album in 2019. It was due for release in 2020 on my father’s birthday, but COVID-19 did not allow this. It just happens that everything in Nigeria rotates. All the topics were, are and are still relevant. The same things my father was singing about are still here today. Is it bad roads? Is it corrupt leaders? Nothing has changed.’

Femi Kuti has received four Grammy nominations (2003, 2010, 2012, and 2013). Photo: Neusroom. 

Femi has been making music for over 40 years. How has he managed to stay relevant ?. ‘It is because of knowledge,’ he says. ‘The reason many artistes have forgotten how to stay relevant is because of a lack of knowledge.’

‘What makes a musician stay relevant forever? How do you become a Fela? Because he studied. He knew everything about his profession, so Fela will always be relevant. I am not boasting, but you see, whether we like it or not, my music will always go down in history. Somebody right now is playing my album around this world.’

Femi Kuti’s music has reached various parts of the world, and it surprises even him to see how far his music goes. He said, ‘I have die-hard fans too that will teach their children about me. They don’t have to be in public. I have people come to me and say, ‘my daughter is learning your tune, and she is using it for her exam.’ Can you imagine? Meanwhile, our people won’t learn my songs, but Europeans are studying my music.’

At 58, why am I still relevant? Because I’ve gone all out to find, even where my father failed to teach me. Where I knew I was handicapped, or I did not know, I made up for it in other ways. I try to learn new instruments; I still wake up and practice for six hours.’

Femi Kuti has risen to global acclaim through hard work and a strong desire to be the best at his craft. Afrobeat continues to be the spine that connects the music that comes out of Nigeria with the world. Many artistes have taken to infusing Afrobeat elements into pop, hip-hop and rap music to express a particular music style unique to Nigeria. And at the centre of it all sits Femi Kuti, a steadfast boat in the storm of music’s volatile sea.

One thing is for sure, Femi Kuti is here to stay and his music for a long time after him. 

Femi Kuti promised us an hour, but we had spoken for almost two hours. His younger children were back from school, and their conversation as they waited to see their dad filtered into the room. Femi himself was itching to go back to practice. 

As we said our goodbyes and packed up the equipment, I couldn’t help thinking: will the artistes we have now stand the test of time the way Femi has stood tall all these years? Will anyone besides his family see the purity of Afrobeat and desire to be the next big name? One thing is for sure, Femi Kuti is here to stay, and his music, for a long time after him.