Fela Kuti | |
|---|---|
 Kutic. 1986 | |
| Born | Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti (1938-10-15)15 October 1938 Abeokuta, British Nigeria |
| Died | 2 August 1997(1997-08-02) (aged 58) Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1958–1997 |
| Notable work | Discography |
| Children | Yeni Kuti (daughter) Femi Kuti (son) Seun Kuti (son) |
| Parents |
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| Family | Ransome-Kuti family Lijadu Sisters (cousins)[1] Made Kuti (grandson)Wole Soyinka (cousin) |
| Musical career | |
| Origin | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
| Website | felakuti |
Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (Yoruba:[fɛ̄láāníkúlák͡pókútì];Listenⓘ bornOlufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator ofAfrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combinesWest African music with Americanfunk andjazz.[2] At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging andcharismatic music performers".[3]AllMusic described him as "a musical and sociopolitical voice" of international significance.[4]
Kuti was the son of Nigerianwomen's rights activistFunmilayo Ransome-Kuti. After early experiences abroad, he and his bandAfrica '70 (featuring drummer and musical directorTony Allen) shot to stardom in Nigeria during the 1970s, during which Kuti was an outspoken critic and target ofNigeria's military juntas.[4] In 1970, he founded theKalakuta Republic commune, which declared itself independent from military rule. The commune was destroyed in a 1978 army raid that injured Kuti and his mother, the latter fatally.[5] He was jailed by the government ofMuhammadu Buhari in 1984, but released after 20 months. Kuti continued to record and perform through the 1980s and 1990s. Since his death in 1997, reissues and compilations of his music have been overseen by his son,Femi Kuti.[4]
Kuti[6] was born into theRansome-Kuti family, anupper-middle-class family, on 15 October 1938, inAbeokuta,Colonial Nigeria.[7] His mother,Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was an anti-colonialfeminist, and his father,Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti was anAnglican minister, school principal, and the first president of theNigeria Union of Teachers.[8] Kuti's parents both played active roles in theanti-colonial movement in Nigeria, most notably theAbeokuta Women's Riots which were led by his mother in 1946.[9] His brothersBeko Ransome-Kuti andOlikoye Ransome-Kuti, bothmedical doctors, were well known nationally.[5] Kuti is a cousin[10] to the writer and fellow activistWole Soyinka, aNobel Prize for Literature winner.[11] They are both descendants ofJosiah Ransome-Kuti, anAnglican clergyman and musical pioneer, who is Kuti's paternal grandfather and Soyinka's maternal great-grandfather.[12]
Kuti attendedAbeokuta Grammar School. In 1958, he was invited to London by his younger brother Beko (a medical student at the time), to study music at theTrinity College of Music, with the trumpet being his preferred instrument.[5] While there, he formed the band Koola Lobitos and played a fusion ofjazz andhighlife.[13] The ensemble would include as membersBayo Martins on drums andWole Bucknor on piano.[14] In 1960, Kuti married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor with whom he had three children (Yeni,Femi, and Sola).[15] In 1963, Kuti moved back to the newly independentFederation of Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos, and trained as a radio producer for theNigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He played for some time withVictor Olaiya and his All-Stars.[16]
He called his styleAfrobeat, a combination ofApala,funk,jazz, highlife,salsa,calypso and traditionalYoruba music. In 1969, Kuti took the band to the United States and spent ten months in Los Angeles. While there, he discovered theBlack Power movement through Sandra Smith (now known as Sandra Izsadore or Sandra Akanke Isidore),[17] a partisan of theBlack Panther Party. This experience heavily influenced his music and political views.[18] He renamed the band Nigeria 70. Soon after, theImmigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off by a promoter that Kuti and his band were in the US without work permits. The band performed a quick recording session inLos Angeles that would later be released asThe '69 Los Angeles Sessions.[19]
After Kuti and his band returned to Nigeria, the group was renamed (the) Africa '70 as lyrical themes changed from love to social issues.[13] He formed theKalakuta Republic—acommune, recording studio, and home for many people connected to the band—which he later declared independent from the Nigerian state.
Kuti set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel. First named the Afro-Spot and later the Afrika Shrine, this was where he performed regularly and officiated at personalisedYoruba traditional ceremonies in honor of his nativeancestral faith. He also changed his name to Anikulapo (meaning "He who carries death in his pouch", with the interpretation: "I will be the master of my own destiny and will decide when it is time for death to take me").[5][20] He stopped using the hyphenated surname "Ransome" because he considered it to be aslave name.[21]
Kuti's music was popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general.[22] He decided to sing inPidgin English so that individuals all over Africa could enjoy his music, where the local languages they speak arediverse and numerous. As popular as Kuti's music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was unpopular with the government, and raids on the Kalakuta Republic were frequent. During 1972,Ginger Baker recordedStratavarious, with Kuti appearing alongside vocalist and guitaristBobby Tench.[23] Around this time, Kuti became even more involved with the Yoruba traditional religion.[3]
In 1977, Kuti and Africa 70 released the albumZombie, which heavily criticizedNigerian soldiers, and used the zombie metaphor to describe theNigerian military's methods. The album was a massive success and infuriated the government, who raided the Kalakuta Republic with 1,000 soldiers. During the raid, Kuti was severely beaten, and his elderly mother (who had contributed to the movement for Nigeria's Independence) was fatally injured after being thrown from a window.[5] The commune was burnt down, and Kuti's studio, instruments, andmaster tapes were destroyed. Kuti claimed that he would have been killed had it not been for a commanding officer's intervention as he was being beaten. Kuti's response to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to theDodan Barracks inLagos, GeneralOlusegun Obasanjo's official residence, and to write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier," referencing the official inquiry that claimed an unknown soldier had destroyed the commune.[24]
Kuti and his band took up residence in Crossroads Hotel after the Shrine had been destroyed along with the commune. In 1978, he married 27 women[25], many of whom were dancers, composers, and singers with whom he worked. The marriages served not only to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic but also to protect Kuti and his wives from the authorities' false claims that Kuti was kidnapping women.[26] Later, he adopted a rotation system of maintaining 12 simultaneous wives.[27] There were also two concerts in the year: the first was inAccra, in which rioting broke out during the song "Zombie", which caused Kuti to be banned from enteringGhana; the second was after theBerlin Jazz Festival, when most of Kuti's musicians deserted him due to rumours that he planned to use all of the proceeds to fund his presidential campaign.
Other reports suggested that, being disappointed by their fees, band leader Tony Allen and almost all of the musicians resigned.[28]Baryton player Lekan Animashaun became band leader following this, and Fela created a new group named Egypt 80. In 1979, Kuti formed his political party, which he calledMovement of the People (MOP), to "clean up society like a mop",[5] but it quickly became inactive due to his confrontations with the government of the day. MOP preachedNkrumahism andAfricanism.[29][30]
In 1980, Kuti signed an exclusive management deal withFrench producerMartin Meissonnier, who secured a record deal with Arista Records London through A&R Tarquin Gotch. The first album came out in February 1981 under the title ofBlack President, with the track "ITT" and on the B-Side "Colonial Mentality" and an edited version of "Sorrow, Tears and Blood" (these two tracks recorded with Africa 70 and Tony Allen were unreleased inEurope).[31] Following the release, Kuti performed his first European tour (four concerts in a week) with a suite of 70 people. The tour, starting in Paris on 15 March 1981, had a huge crowd estimated at 10,000 people attending,[32] thenBrussels,Wien andStrasbourg.Black President was followed by another album that was recorded in Paris in July 1981:Original Sufferhead,[33] with "Power Show" on the B-side. Kuti also recorded the track "Perambulator" in Paris. Arista gave his masters to Fela at the end of 1981.[34]French Filmmaker Jean Jacques Flori came to Lagos in early 1982 to direct the now classic film "Music is a Weapon". The film was broadcast first on Antenne 2 (French TV in 1982). The film producer Stephane Tchalgaldjieff didn't like the resulting film, and decided to re-edit it for an international release.[35] "V.I.P. (Vagabonds in Power)" and "Authority Stealing" were released in 1980, with the former being a live performance done inBerlin,West Germany.
In 1983, Kuti nominated himself for president[5] in Nigeria's first elections in decades, but his candidature was refused. At this time, Kuti recreated his band, Egypt 80, which reflected the view thatEgyptian civilization, knowledge, philosophy, mathematics, and religious systems are African and must be claimed as such. Kuti stated in an interview: "Stressing the point that I have to make Africans aware of the fact that Egyptian civilization belongs to the African. So that was the reason why I changed the name of my band to Egypt 80."[36] Kuti continued to record albums and tour the country. He further infuriated the political establishment by implicatingITT Corporation's vice-president,Moshood Abiola, and Obasanjo in the popular 25-minute political screed entitled "I.T.T. (International Thief-Thief)".[5]
In 1984,Muhammadu Buhari's government, of which Kuti was a vocal opponent, jailed him on a charge of currencysmuggling.Amnesty International and others denounced the charges as politically motivated.[37] Amnesty designated him aprisoner of conscience,[38] and other human rights groups also took up his case. After 20 months, GeneralIbrahim Babangida released him from prison. On his release, Kuti divorced his 12 remaining wives, citing "marriage brings jealousy and selfishness" since his wives would regularly compete for superiority.[27][39]
Kuti continued to release albums with Egypt 80 and toured in theUnited States andEurope while continuing to be politically active. In 1986, he performed inGiants Stadium inNew Jersey as part ofAmnesty International'sA Conspiracy of Hope concert along withBono,Carlos Santana, andthe Neville Brothers. In 1989, Kuti and Egypt 80 released the anti-apartheid albumBeasts of No Nation that depicted U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan, UK Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher, and South African State PresidentPieter Willem Botha on its cover. The title of the composition evolved out of a statement by Botha: "This uprising [against the apartheid system] will bring out the beast in us."[5]
Kuti's album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually, he ceased releasing albums altogether. On 21 January 1993,[40] he and four members of Egypt 80 were arrested and were later charged on 25 January for the murder of an electrician.[41] Rumours also circulated that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. However, there had been no confirmed statement from Kuti about this speculation.
On 3 August 1997, Kuti's brotherOlikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominentAIDS activist[42] and formerMinister of Health, announced that Kuti had died on the previous day from heart failure due to complications with AIDS.[43][44][45] Kuti had been anAIDS denialist, and his widow maintained that he did not die of the disease.[46][47]
Kutimarried 27 women simultaneously in 1978. Hissenior wife was Remilekun Taylor.[48]
His youngest sonSeun took the role of leader of Kuti's former band Egypt 80. As of 2026[update], the band was still active, releasing music under the name Seun Kuti & Egypt 80.[49] His other children include musiciansFemi andYeni Kuti.[50]
Kuti's musical style is calledAfrobeat.[51] It is a style he largely created, and is a complex fusion ofjazz,funk,highlife, and traditional Nigerian and Africanchants and rhythms. It contains elements of Afro-Cuban music,psychedelic soul and has similarities toJames Brown's music. Afrobeat also borrows heavily from the native "tinker pan".[52]
Tony Allen, Kuti's drummer of over ten years, was instrumental in the creation of Afrobeat. Tony Allen's drumming notably makes sparing use of 2 & 4 backbeat style playing, instead opting for outlining the time in shufflinghard-bop fashion. Allen would usually play tightly swung, aggressive triplet patterns on his hi-hat. On his snare drum, he would often play patterns thatimplied the clave feeling underlying the whole piece, but not explicitly stating it. This contrasts with modern pop music from Nigeria, where snare patterns often simply play the five-stroke clave. Though he often maintained a strong downbeat, usually with a double kick-drum hit on the 1, he would sometimes play the snare on the 1 and displacing the first kick drum hit to an off-beat or to the 2, in a manner not dissimilar to conventional reggae drumming. After his departure from Afrika 70, Allen became a star in his own right, had a critically acclaimed solo career, collaborated with artists from diverse genres all over the globe and has been widely recognised for the innovation and technicality of his style. Tony Allen passed away on the 30th of April, 2020.
There are clear, audible musical similarities between Kuti's compositions and the work of electric-eraMiles Davis,Sly Stone and Afrofunk pioneerOrlando Julius, as well as the approach to modality pioneered by Davis and Coltrane, as expressed in the funk idiom.
Kuti's band was notable for featuring twobaritone saxophones when most groups only used one. This is a common technique in African and African-influenced musical styles and can be seen infunk andhip hop. There were always two or more guitarists. The electric West African style guitar in Afrobeat bands is a key part of the sound, and is used to give basic structure, playing a repeating chordal/melodic statement, riff, or groove. In styles like soukous and juju, there might be guitars playing similar roles but allowed to improvise melodically through at least some sections of a given piece. One of Kuti's main innovations especially during his 70's heyday was to have all three of the guitars (bass, rhythm and tenor) maintain one pattern each with no deviation for the whole runtime of a piece, though some songs might have contrasting intros or modulations into a different key.
Some elements often present in Kuti's music are thecall-and-response within the chorus and figurative but simple lyrics. His songs were also very long, at least 10–15 minutes in length, and many reached 20 or 30 minutes, while some unreleased tracks would last up to 45 minutes when performed live. Their length was one of many reasons that his music never reached a substantial degree of popularity outside Africa. His LP records frequently had one 30-minute track per side. Typically, there is an "instrumental introduction" jam section of the song - roughly 10 to 15 minutes long - before Kuti starts singing the "main" part of the song, featuring his lyrics and singing, for another 10 to 15 minutes. On some recordings, his songs are divided into two parts: Part 1 being the instrumental, and Part 2 adding in vocals.
Kuti's songs are mostly sung inNigerian Pidgin English, although he also performed a few songs in theYoruba language. His main instruments were the saxophone and thekeyboards, but he also played the trumpet, electric guitar, and the occasional drum solo. Kuti refused to perform songs again after he had already recorded them, which hindered his popularity outside Africa.[citation needed]
The subject of Kuti's songs tended to be very complex. They regularly challenged common received notions in the manner ofpolitical commentary through song. Many of his songs also expressed a form ofparody andsatire. The main theme he conveyed through his music was the search for justice through exploration of political and social topics that affected the common people.[53]
Kuti was known for his showmanship, and his concerts were often outlandish and wild. He referred to his stage act as the "Underground Spiritual Game". Many expected him to perform shows like those in the Western world, but during the 1980s, he was not interested in putting on a "show". His European performance was a representation of what was relevant at the time and his other inspirations.[3] He attempted to make a movie but lost all the materials to the fire that was set to his house by the military government in power.[54] He thought that art, and thus his own music, should have political meaning.[3]
Kuti's concerts also regularly involved female singers and dancers, later dubbed as "Queens." The Queens were women who helped influence the popularization of his music. They were dressed colorfully and wore makeup all over their bodies that expressed their visual creativity. The singers of the group played a backup role for Kuti, usually echoing his words or humming along, while the dancers would put on a performance of an erotic manner. This began to spark controversy due to the nature of their involvement with Kuti's political tone, along with the reality that a lot of the women were young.[39]
Kuti was part of anAfrocentric consciousness movement that was founded on and delivered through his music. In an interview included in Hank Bordowitz'sNoise of the World, Kuti stated:
Music is supposed to have an effect. If you're playing music and people don't feel something, you're not doing shit. That's what African music is about. When you hear something, you must move. I want to move people to dance, but also to think. Music wants to dictate a better life, against a bad life. When you're listening to something that depicts having a better life, and you're not having a better life, it must have an effect on you.[55]
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Kuti was highly engaged in political activism in Africa from the 1970s until his death. He criticized thecorruption of Nigerian government officials and the mistreatment of Nigerian citizens. He spoke ofcolonialism as the root of the socio-economic and political problems that plagued the African people. Corruption was one of the worst political problems facing Africa in the 1970s, and Nigeria was among the most corrupt countries. Its governmentrigged elections and performedcoups that ultimately worsened poverty, economic inequality, unemployment, and political instability, further promoting corruption and crime. Kuti's protest songs covered themes inspired by the realities of corruption andsocio-economic inequality in Africa. His political statements could be heard throughout Africa.[54]
Kuti's open vocalization of the violent and oppressive regime controlling Nigeria did not come without consequences. He was arrested on over 200 different occasions, and spent time in jail, including his longest stint of 20 months after his arrest in 1984. On top of jail time, the corrupt government sent soldiers to beat Kuti, his family and friends, and destroy wherever he lived and whatever instruments or recordings he had.[56][54]
In the 1970s, Kuti began to run outspoken political columns in the advertising space of daily and weekly newspapers such asThe Daily Times andThe Punch, bypassing editorial censorship in Nigeria's predominantly state-controlled media.[57] Published throughout the 1970s and early 1980s under the title "Chief Priest Say", these columns were extensions of Kuti's famousYabis Sessions — consciousness-raising word-sound rituals, with him serving as chief priest, conducted at his Lagos nightclub. Organized around a militantlyAfrocentric rendering of history and the essence of black beauty, "Chief Priest Say" focused on the role ofcultural hegemony in the continuing subjugation of Africans. Kuti addressed many topics, from fierce denunciations of the Nigerian Government's criminal behavior, Islam and Christianity's exploitative nature, and evil multinational corporations; to deconstructions of Western medicine,Black Muslims, sex, pollution, and poverty. "Chief Priest Say" was eventually canceled byThe Daily Times andThe Punch. Many have speculated that the paper's editors were pressured to stop publication, including threats of violence.[58]
"ImagineChe Guevara andBob Marley rolled into one person and you get a sense of Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti."
Kuti's lyrics expressed his inner thoughts. His rise in popularity throughout the 1970s signalled a change in the relation between music as an art form and Nigerian socio-political discourse.[60] In 1984, he critiqued and insulted theauthoritarian then-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,Muhammadu Buhari.[61] "Beast of No Nation", one of his most popular songs, refers to Buhari as an "animal in a madman's body"; in Nigerian Pidgin: "No be outside Buhari dey ee / na craze man be dat / animal in craze man skini." Kuti strongly believed in Africa and always preached peace among its people. He thought the most important way for them to fight European cultural imperialism was to support traditional religions and lifestyles in their continent.[3] The AmericanBlack Power movement also influenced Kuti's political views; he supportedPan-Africanism andsocialism and called for a united, democratic African republic.[62][63] African leaders he supported during his lifetime includeKwame Nkrumah andThomas Sankara.[29] Kuti was a candid supporter ofhuman rights, and many of his songs are direct attacks against dictatorships, specifically themilitaristic governments of Nigeria in the 1970s and 1980s. He also criticized fellow Africans (especially the upper class) for betraying traditional African culture.
In 1978 Kuti became apolygamist when he simultaneously married 27 women.[64][65] The highly publicized wedding served many purposes: it marked the one-year anniversary of Kuti and his wives surviving the Nigerian government's attack on theKalakuta Republic in 1977,[66] and also formalized Kuti's relationships with the women living with him; this legal status prevented the Nigerian government from raiding Kuti's compound on the grounds that Kuti had kidnapped the women.[66] Kuti also described polygamy as logical and convenient: "A man goes for many women in the first place. Like in Europe, when a man is married when the wife is sleeping, he goes out and sleeps around. He should bring the women in the house, man, to live with him, and stop running around the streets!"[67] Some characterize his views towards women asmisogyny and typically cite songs like "Mattress" as further evidence.[68][69] In a more complex example, he mocks African women's aspiration to European standards of ladyhood while extolling the values of the market woman in "Lady".[69] However, Kuti also critiqued what he considered aberrant displays of African masculinity. In his songs "J.J.D. (Johnny Just Drop)" and "Gentleman", Kuti mocks African men's culturally and politically inappropriate adoption of European standards and declares himself "African man: Original".[66]
Kuti was also an outspoken critic of the United States. At a meeting during his 1981Amsterdam tour, he "complained about the psychological warfare that American organizations likeITT and theCIA waged against developingnations in terms of language". Because terms such asThird World,undeveloped, ornon-aligned countries imply inferiority, Kuti felt they should not be used.[64]
Kuti is remembered as an influential icon who voiced his opinions on matters that affected the nation through his music. Since 1998, theFelabration festival, an idea pioneered by his daughterYeni Kuti,[70] is held each year at theNew Afrika Shrine to celebrate the life of this music legend and his birthday. Since Kuti's death in 1997, there has been a revival of his influence in music and popular culture, culminating in another re-release of his catalog controlled byUMG,Broadway, andoff-Broadway shows, and new bands, such asAntibalas, who carry the Afrobeat banner to a new generation of listeners.
In 1999,Universal Music France, under Francis Kertekian, remastered the 45 albums that it owned and released them on 26 compact discs. These titles were licensed globally, except inNigeria andJapan, where other companies owned Kuti's music. In 2005, the American operations of UMG licensed all of its world-music titles to the UK-based labelWrasse Records, which repackaged the same 26 discs for distribution in theUnited States (where they replaced the titles issues byMCA) and the UK. In 2009, Universal created a new deal for the US andEurope, withKnitting Factory Records andPIAS respectively, which included the release of the Broadway cast recording of the musicalFela! In 2013, FKO Ltd., the entity that owned the rights to all of Kuti's compositions, was acquired byBMG Rights Management.
In 2003, theBlack President exhibition debuted at the New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York, and featured concerts, symposia, films, and 39 international artists' works.[71][64][72]
American singerBilal recorded a remake of Kuti's 1977 song "Sorrow Tears and Blood" for his second album,Love for Sale, featuring a guest rap byCommon. Bilal cited Kuti's mix of jazz andfolk tastes as an influence on his music.[73]
The 2007 filmThe Visitor, directed byThomas McCarthy, depicted a disconnected professor (Richard Jenkins) who wanted to play thedjembe; he learns from a young Syrian (Haaz Sleiman) who tells the professor he will never truly understand African music unless he listens to Fela. The film features clips of Kuti's "Open and Close" and "Je'nwi Temi (Don't Gag Me)".
In 2008, anoff-Broadway production about Kuti's life, entitledFela! and inspired by the 1982 biographyFela, Fela! This Bitch of a Life byCarlos Moore,[74][75] began with a collaborative workshop between the Afrobeat band Antibalas and Tony award-winnerBill T. Jones. The production was a massive success, and sold-out performances during its run and gained critical acclaim. On 22 November 2009,Fela! began a run on Broadway at theEugene O'Neill Theatre. Jim Lewis helped co-write the script (along with Jones) and obtained producer backing fromJay-Z andWill Smith, among others. On 4 May 2010,Fela! was nominated for 11Tony Awards, includingBest Musical,Best Book of a Musical,Best Direction of a Musical for Bill T. Jones,Best Leading Actor in a Musical forSahr Ngaujah, andBest Featured Actress in a Musical forLillias White.[76] In 2011, the London production ofFela! (staged at theRoyal National Theatre) was filmed.[64] On 11 June 2012, it was announced thatFela! would return to Broadway for 32 performances.[77]
On 18 August 2009, DJJ.Period released a freemixtape to the general public, entitledThe Messengers. It is a collaboration withSomali-born hip-hop artistK'naan paying tribute to Kuti,Bob Marley andBob Dylan.
Two months later, Knitting Factory Records began re-releasing the 45 titles controlled by UMG, starting with yet another re-release in the US of the compilationThe Best of the Black President, which was completed and released in 2013.[78]
Fela Son of Kuti: The Fall of Kalakuta is a stage play written by Onyekaba Cornel Best in 2010. It has had triumphant acclaim as part of that year's Felabration and returned in 2014 at the National Theatre andFreedom Park in Lagos. The play deals with events in a hideout, a day after the fall ofKalakuta.
The full-length documentary filmFinding Fela, directed byAlex Gibney, premiered at the 2014Sundance Film Festival.
A biographical film byFocus Features, directed bySteve McQueen and written byBiyi Bandele, was rumoured to be in production in 2010, withChiwetel Ejiofor in the lead role.[79] However, by 2014, the proposal was no longer produced under Focus Features, and while he maintained his role as the main writer, McQueen was replaced byAndrew Dosunmu as the director. McQueen toldThe Hollywood Reporter that the film was "dead".[80]
The 2019 documentary filmMy Friend Fela (Meu amigo Fela) byJoel Zito Araújo, explores the complexity of Kuti's life "through the eyes and conversations" of his biographerCarlos Moore.[81]
The collaborative jazz/afrobeat albumRejoice by Tony Allen andHugh Masekela, released in 2020, includes the track "Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be the Same)", a tribute to Kuti, through whom Allen and Masekela first met in the 1970s.[82][83]
Kuti's songs "Zombie" & "Sorrow Tears and Blood" has appeared in the video gameGrand Theft Auto: IV, and he was posthumously nominated to theRock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.[84]
In 2021, Hulu released a six-episode documentary miniseries,McCartney 3,2,1, in whichPaul McCartney is quoted as saying of a visit to see Fela Kuti at the African Shrine, Kuti's club outside of Lagos, in the early 1970s: "The music was so incredible that I wept. Hearing that was one of the greatest music moments of my life."[85]
On 1 November 2021, a blue plaque was unveiled by theNubian Jak Community Trust at 12 Stanlake Road,Shepherd's Bush, where Kuti first lived when he came to London in 1958 and was studying music at Trinity College.[86][87][88][89][90]
In 2022, Kuti was inducted into theBlack Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.[91] In 2023,Rolling Stone ranked Kuti at number 188 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[92]
The podcast series, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, was released weekly throughout 2025. The show, hosted byJad Abumrad, digs deep into Kuti's influence as a musician and activist.[93]
In January 2026, the Recording Academy posthumously honoured Kuti with the **Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award** at the Special Merit ceremony of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The award recognised his contributions to global music and his pioneering role in the development of the Afrobeat genre. Kuti became the **first African artist** to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award since it was established in 1963. His children, including Femi, Yeni, and Kunle Kuti, accepted the award on his behalf. The honour placed him alongside other iconic musicians such as Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Cher, Paul Simon, and Carlos Santana.[94][95][96]
Notes
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