Seun Kuti, son of late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has stated that Nigerian musicians that evaluate themselves along with his dad can’t be like him.
Seun, who’s the youngest son of the late Afrobeat pioneer, stated younger musicians are solely utilizing his father as an excuse to misbehave and they aren’t really like him.
The 37-year-old saxophonist shared this view throughout an Instagram dwell session with a expertise supervisor, Ubi Franklin, on Thursday.
Throughout the chat, he stated most Nigerian artistes are solely like his father in some facets.
“I believe most of them are from Muslim and Christian houses and wish Fela as an excuse to smoke and chase women. Apart from that facet of Fela, which is a extremely minute facet, they use Fela as a motive to be reckless and impolite to your elders, as a result of they aren’t actually impolite to the authorities,” he stated.
He stated Fela’s actions have been his personal method of rebelling in opposition to the federal government on the time.
“All of Fela’s actions, smoking weed and all, -Gowon was a Christian, his deputy was a Muslim, all of them have been spiritual moralists- Fela had girls, all of his actions have been focused on the system so inflexible and so conservative that even artistry couldn’t even breathe. Fela’s life was a insurrection.
“Abruptly whenever you’re insulting African girls that’s the time you wish to keep in mind Fela, forgetting that Fela married all of his personal, he married them and put them in his home. If you wish to smoke weed on the streets and misbehave, that’s whenever you wish to channel Fela however by no means within the facet of liberating your individuals. What I actually don’t like is when they’re now taking Fela’s messages and switch it into some form of capitalist industrial message. These issues should not actually what my father was about,” he stated.
The singer added that Fela’s music was focused at confronting the individuals in authority and was by no means used to speak down on the individuals on his stage or under him as a result of these have been his individuals.
He, nonetheless, stated the present musicians by no means problem the authority, they’re “very humble, shaking fingers and bowing heads” once they meet the higher-ups.
“Fela’s actions have been focused on the authorities. Ascending, by no means to the individuals on his stage or underneath him. These have been his people who he was preventing for. Fela by no means spoke down on Nigerians. Ascending, that’s the solely time that an African man is allowed to be impolite,” he famous.
Utilizing Music for Advocacy
Seun, who can be strolling the trail of his late father as an activist, stated he believes that music can be utilized to air the individuals’s opinions and musicians can use their fame and pages to get issues executed.
Nevertheless, he stated artistes fear about issues that solely 5 per cent of Nigerians can relate to, whereas the remaining can solely faux it or dream to be prefer it.
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“Now we have to make it possible for our hearts start to signify our individuals. We don’t must turn into like Fela or be on the streets and kind a political get together however your coronary heart has to signify your individuals.
“Even the musicians on the high, we’re nonetheless competing ferociously as a result of even up right here, issues are scarce. For me, artistes don’t must be activists, you simply must signify your individuals,” he stated.
Music Financial system
The artiste stated music does not likely feed quite a lot of Nigerian artistes however is simply an avenue that they use to earn a residing by changing into merchandise that may be offered to large companies to earn cash.
“I believe the issue with doing reveals in Nigeria is that Nigerians can’t afford the form of tickets that may make artistes wealthy. Even after we do reveals in Nigeria, we’ve got to try to promote the reveals to company our bodies who will purchase few tickets at exorbitant costs,” he stated.
He added that entertainers in Nigeria have an enormous benefit as a result of the elites and large companies fund the leisure trade rather more than the academic sector.
He famous: “These elites give extra yearly to our leisure trade than to schooling. It isn’t occurring in any nation in Africa or wherever else on the planet. That’s why Nigerian artistes are capable of punch so excessive above their weight.
“Let’s cease telling the entire world how we’re the perfect musicians in Africa, that’s bull. All African music is nice; the rationale the loudest music comes out of Nigeria is that we received the largest funding behind us.”
Legalising Weed
The singer stated he believes weed (marijuana) ought to have been legalised all around the world and never simply in Nigeria. He stated weed would in all probability have been authorized in Nigeria however the Nigerian authorities is but to obtain the “inexperienced gentle” from America and Britain.
“Weed has been rising on earth earlier than man even advanced. For us to now turn into aware Homo sapiens, create our nations, create our legal guidelines, after which take a look at one thing that has been there earlier than us and say you’re not allowed to be right here, is simply the peak of egotistical cultural chauvinism,” he stated.
He added that he could also be satisfied to give up smoking if correct analysis will be carried out regionally in a Nigerian college to verify that marijuana is dangerous for well being.
“Making weed unlawful is like simply taking legal guidelines that some individuals wrote and placing it in our heads,” he stated.
Quite a few Nigerian artistes have been in comparison with the Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti, when it comes to musical contents and kinds of supply.
The likes of Wizkid, Burna Boy, Falz, and even Haitian-American rapper, Wyclef Jean, who launched a single in 2017 titled ‘Fela Kuti’, have described Fela because the inspiration for his or her kind of music.
Burna Boy was just lately trolled on social media for describing himself because the “finest since Fela”. He was additionally termed conceited by social media customers after he stated no person paved the best way for him and he turned the “Large of Africa” on his personal.
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