Femi Kuti, first son of the Afrobeat founder, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, has explained why he left his father’s band.
Femi disclosed during his recent appearance on the Afropolitan podcast.
Speaking about his decision to part ways with Fela’s music band, Femi Kuti disclosed that he left to discover his own identity because “I did not have any possibility of my life”.
“Growing up in school, everybody would be like ‘aren’t you going to be like your dad or won’t you play music? I was pressured to be like my father.
“If I wanted to play music, I had to be Femi Kuti. I used the same mathematical thought that I cannot be Fela. I began to wear the same outfits with my father because I used to stay with my mother before I ran away to stay with him.
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“I was like mini Fela because he usually dresses me like himself. I just thought I should better look for myself fast, or I’m going to be a very unhappy man. So I went back to my mother.
“The moment I formed my band, his fan base descended on me. It was very difficult to find a good write up about me then because the press hated me and at this time, there was no internet for me to defend myself.
“Being under my father, I didn’t have any possibility of my own life, including having children. I saw my life in his life,” the 63-year-old stated.
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In April, Femi Kuti said he received harsh opposition from his father, Fela, after he left the Afrobeat pioneer’s band in 1986.
He explained that Fela’s fans turned against him as they saw his exit from his father’s band as a rebellion.
The multiple Grammy-nominated artist said his father also demoralised him when he dropped his debut album after he harshly criticised it in the press.
Fela Kuti told me my song was “rubbish” – Femi Kuti
He stated that during the album launch, his father walked to the stage and told the press that the album was “rubbish.”
Speaking in a recent episode of the Sonically podcast hosted by Elmo Chong, Femi Kuti said,
“When I left my father’s band, his fanbase turned against me. It was like, how dare you fight Fela?
But it wasn’t a fight. I was lost. Had no formal education, how was I going to become a great musician? I was lost. I was crying inside me. But people didn’t understand, they thought I was doing what I was doing because I was protesting.
I just focused and said, I can’t turn back right now. I would rather die trying. So, I just continued and I have never stopped since then.
The first time my father heard my first album at the launching in 1989, he said it was rubbish. He went on stage and said it to the press. I was so upset. He was the last person I expected such a harsh review from.”
Femi Kuti said he finally got his father’s validation years later after he watched him perform two of his hit tracks ‘No Place For My Dreams’ and ‘Mind Your Business’ at the African Shrine.
He stated that his father then went back to the press to boast about his (Femi’s) success as a musician.
