Nigerian Afrobeat star Femi Kuti, son of the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti, has opened up about the pressure of living up to his father’s legacy.
During a recent Afropolitan podcast interview, posted on YouTube on Thursday, Femi Kuti spoke about the challenging decision to part ways with his father’s band to develop his own unique musical style.
The 63-year-old singer revealed that the pressure to meet others’ expectations started as early as his school days.
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“Growing up in school, everybody would be like ‘Are you not going to be like your father? When are you going to be like your father? Will you not play music?’ The pressure was that you must be like your father,” he said.
“If I wanted to play music, I had to be Femi Kuti. I used the same mathematical thought that I cannot be Fela. I started wearing the same outfits because I used to stay with my mother and then ran away to stay with my father.
“This was probably the happiest time of my life. The freedom was incredible. He used to dress me like himself. I was like mini Fela.”
Femi revealed that leading his father’s band for two years during Fela’s imprisonment under Muhammadu Buhari’s military regime not only provided him with invaluable experience but also offered a profound insight.
He stated that this realisation prompted a pivotal move toward independence: quitting Fela’s band and turning down a US tour, even though it came with a salary three times higher.
The singer revealed that his choice drew strong criticism from Fela’s loyal fans and the media, marking it as an especially challenging time.
“I just thought I would better look for myself fast, or else I am going to be a very unhappy man. The minute I started to do that, some people started to see the change and started to resent those actions,” he said.
“One was that I left back to my mother. I formed my band, and his fan base descended on me. The press hated me. It was very difficult to find a good write-up about me. There was no internet at this time, so I could not defend myself.
“His management told me I should follow them to America and promised to triple my salary. I told them I had made my decision.
“Being under my father, I did not have any possibility of my life, including having children. I saw my life in his life.”
Watch him speak below…
