Renowned Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, has offered a nuanced perspective on his father Fela Kuti’s legacy.
In a recent appearance on the zero conditions podcast, Seun Kuti clarified that Fela’s primary focus was not on criticizing the Nigerian government, but rather on challenging the wealthy elites and addressing societal issues.
Seun highlighted that many people have misconceptions about his family’s history and actions, including a myth about his father’s alleged purchase and modification of a Mercedes-Benz.
He emphasized the importance of understanding the historical context of his father’s actions, noting that Fela’s music targeted the rich and powerful, addressing issues like inequality and corruption.
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In his words:
“People have a lot of misconceptions about my family and what we’ve done or what we didn’t. For example, I even believed for a long time that my dad bought a Benz, cut the roof off and used it to carry vegetables.
“I believed it because I grew up hearing it everywhere. Until one day, somebody said it in front of my dad and he was shocked.
“Then we don’t understand the larger narrative because to us in the new generation, the story sounds like, what a gangster thing to do, right?
“But back then when colonisation just ended, doing such in the 1970s when people were suffering, he couldn’t have done that then. But there were rumours that he did it because they wanted people to think that he was crazy and frivolous.
“People say Fela fought the government, Fela did not fight the government of Nigeria, Fela fought the rich folks of Nigeria.
“Go and listen to his songs such as ‘Lady’, ‘Swegbe and Akpako’, ‘Ikoyi Blindness’, ‘Ikoyi versus Mushin’. A plethora of songs just attacking the rich people of Nigeria.
“That was why the rich people ganged up with the government against him. As the government was physically assaulting him, the rich folks who owned the media were backing them up with lies and propaganda about him to make whatever punishment that they were giving to him seen just.”
Fela was known for using his music as a platform to speak out against injustice and corruption.