It was the sweat of a grueling five-hour performance by Femi Kuti, often referred to as the “crown-prince”of Afrobeat. The “take away”impression was quite clear: that he has indeed cut his own niche even as a worthy successor to the Kuti music dynasty.
On stage, he has created a relative aura of humility. Not for him the boisterous fanfare, led by Lekan Animashaun (Fela’s very loyal band leader) that used to usher the Abami Edagangan on stage. What precede Femi on stage are his set of instruments, a small towel and a bottle of water. He comes in a little later totally unobtrusive to the on going into session of the band. Apart from starting the show proper with a courteous bow to the audience, he is shirted from the beginning to the end of the show—no more bare chesting or chest baring.
Flash back
Pulling out of his father’s band in 1986 had a similar pain of pulling out a tooth as Fela vehemently resented the move. This may have been a typical passionate reaction of a father to his child’s (in this case,the first son’s) decision considered improper. For Femi however, it was a “war of independence”.
Hardly publicised, a transmission of seethe went on between father and son for some time until they both later realized they had missed what was so glaring; the fact of being genetically kindred.
Rebellion rums in the family. Fela himself rebelled against his father’s Christianity and what he termed colo- mentality (an unabashed adoption of western culture by Africans.) In his typical fight-to-finish assertion of what he believed in, Fela jettisoned the Ransome in the name of his forebears, replacing it with Anikulapo (the one with death in his sheath). Over Femi’s own rebebellion however, Fela eventually mellowed. And not only that, he went further to give his son the Sunday slot (formerly Fela’s Sunday Jump slot)to perform at the old African shrine. Since then and till date, Femi has devotedly stuck to the Sunday slot (now seen as something bequeathed by his late father) for his regular weekly gig at the New African Shrine.
From hindsight however, that early attempt at liberating himself from his father’s shadow for self- realisation seem to be the key stimulant to Femi’s attainment of maturity both in his musical career and as a person, at a considerably rapid rate. He had challenged himself at a young age and has continued to work things out on his own terms.
Now at 55, he is accomplished. Femi Kuti’s music is simply good music, with disciplined arrangements, clean and piercing riffs from his horn section while the percussion is taut and pulsating both at once. His string section blends quite well although it’s not as complex as Fela’s string arrangement (“the second bass” being the peak). However Femi’s compositions give more play time to guitar solos than Fela did.
In a summative analysis, if Fela is marathon, then Femi is sprint and consequently more compact.
On vocals, Femi’s voice has consistently been of middle to high mellifluity, bereft of grit. His double stream feat on the sax—holding down a note for an incredible length of time,(lately for 46 minutes) as well as his four-time nomination for the Grammy in the World Music category have kept him up there. Femi’s band The Positive Force has been on stage for almost 30 years and still pitching high.
The present
Subsequently, as recent as the last 2015 election campaign period and apparently miffed by a campaign statement credited to a major presidential candidate, Femi composed an apt rejoinder titled Corruption Na Stealing, to join his long list of politically motivated songs one of the earliest of which was Sorry, Sorry from the Bang, Bang, Bang CD. So as far as political engagement and the abiding distrust of the system is concerned, the flag is still flying high at the Shrine.
The future
In Tomorrow, another track in that album, a line of the refrain asks: “what will tomorrow bring” in this case for Femi and the Kuti musical dynasty? Well, down the line comes his younger brother, Seun Kuti, who inherited Fela’s band. Also gifted and politically conscious,in his renditions, he could have been exposed to music from the womb for his late mother Fehintola, was the lead chorus in Fela’s band.
And still in the bud is Femi’s own son, Made, who at present is studying Musical Composition at the Trinity College London- Fela’s alma mater. So for this musically illustrious pedigree, another cycle is surely in the offing.
•Fadayiro sent this piece via [email protected]
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