Femi Kuti

Biography

Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and the grandson of political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
Femi Kuti began his musical career playing in his father's band, Egypt 80. In 1986, Femi started his own band, Positive Force, establishing himself as an artist independent of his father's legacy.

Biography

Femi Anikulapo Kuti was born in London to Fela and Remilekun (Remi) Ransome-Kuti (née Taylor; 1941-2000), and grew up in the former Nigerian capital, Lagos. His mother soon left his father, taking Femi to live with her. In 1977, however, Femi chose to move in with his father. Femi started playing the saxophone at the age of 15 and eventually became a member of his father's band. He studied at Baptist Academy and Igbobi College.
Like his father, Femi has made commitments to social and political causes throughout his career. Femi's grandmother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a political campaigner and women's rights activist. Though Femi is the son of an international icon, he considers his mother, Remilekun Taylor, to be his greatest influence.
He created his own band, Positive Force, in the late 1980s with Dele Sosimi (Gbedu Resurrection), former keyboard player of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. His international career began in 1988 when he was invited by the French Cultural Centre in Lagos and Christian Mousset to perform at the Festival d'Angoulême (France), the New Morning Club in Paris and the Moers Festival in Germany. In 2000, Kuti joined in a duet on the track "Ala Jalkoum" on the Rachid Taha album Made in Medina.
In 2001, Femi collaborated on his album Fight to Win×Fight to Win16 October 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Do Your Best6:112Walk on the Right Side6:043Traitors of Africa5:284Tension Grip Nigeria1:365'976:106Fight to Win3:587Stop AIDS3:228Eko Lagos7:199Alkebu-lan (Cradle of Civilization)5:3410One Day Someday6:1211The Choice Is Yours3:1112Missing Link7:15 with a number of US musicians, including Common, Mos Def, and Jaguar Wright.
Also in 2002, Femi contributed a remake of his father's classic song "Water No Get Enemy" to Red Hot & Riot, a compilation CD in tribute to Fela Kuti that was released by the Red Hot Organization and MCA. Femi's track was created in collaboration with hip-hop and R&B artists D'Angelo, Macy Gray, The Soultronics, Nile Rodgers and Roy Hargrove, and all proceeds from the CD were donated to charities dedicated to raising AIDS awareness or fighting the disease.
Femi Kuti's voice is featured in the videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, where he is the host of radio station IF 99 (International Funk 99, described as "playing a great selection of classics from West Africa, the US and elsewhere").

In similar fashion as his father, there have been complaints of Kuti's criticism of his homeland Nigeria, specifically in the song "Sorry Sorry", along with "What Will Tomorrow Bring" and "97".
Femi has been nominated for a Grammy Award four times in the world music category in 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2013 but has never won.
On 19 December 2014 a management deal between Chocolate City Music Group and Femi Kuti was reached. The news was announced via the Chocolate City Music official Instagram account, as well as Audu Maikori social media accounts.
On 5 February 2021, Femi Kuti and his son, Made Kuti, released their two-album project, Legacy+ under Partisan Records. The project includes Femi's eleventh album Stop the Hate×Stop the Hate5 February 2021 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Pà Pá Pà3:222As We Struggle Everyday4:303Stop the Hate5:204Land Grab2:325Na Bigmanism Spoil Government4:056You Can't Fight Corruption With Corruption5:207Show of Shame3:238Privatisation4:419Young Boy / Young Girl7:5710Set Your Minds and Souls Free6:04 and Made's debut album For(e)ward.

Activism

Femi, the son of Afrobeat singer and political activist Fela Kuti, inherited his father's zeal for both music and activism. He started playing the saxophone and keyboard with his father's band when he was 16 and stepped into the spotlight, writing and singing after his father's demise. Femi remains politically inclined grooving to high energy funk, jazz and traditional African-fueled songs about political corruption, poverty and primitive living conditions suffered by most inhabitants in Nigeria's oil-rich nation.
Femi Kuti's album Africa for Africa×Africa for Africa12 April 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Dem Bobo4:392Nobody Beg You4:043Politics In Africa5:024Bad Government3:425Can't Buy Me3:436Africa For Africa3:527Make We Remember5:108Obasanjo Don Play You Wayo4:549Boys Dey Hungry For Town4:3010Now You See4:4011No Blame Them6:0712Yeparipa3:3813E No Good5:3014It Don't Mean3:34 emphasized "Bad Government" as a problem in Africa. Before the 2011 elections in Nigeria, he reached out to the people that there was "no difference between the three candidates contesting for the presidential seat in Nigeria". He added, "we could say we're moving in the democratic process. And it's probably better than going to war, but corruption is still very rampant. The people are hungry and sick. And the government controls the media, so it can't be critical".
Kuti also said: "It's a very hypocritical situation. People settle for putting a meal on the table, but they don't know that the rest of the world doesn't suffer every day from power outages and water shortage. Nigerians don't even know about the history of African slavery, because it's not included in the text books." He echoed the same sentiments in the 2015 elections by releasing a remix to the song "Politics Na Big Business" featuring Tuface Idiibia and Sound Sultan through his management company, Chocolate City.
Kuti's song "Make We Remember" calls on people to remember the words of his father and "great black people", who fought for the emancipation of Africa. For a very long time, Femi has been using music to inspire, change and motivate African people.

Live performances

On 22 November 2014, Kuti performed at the BMO event, where he shared the same stage with his new label mate M.I (Jude Abaga).

On 24 April 2015, he performed in the 2 Kings concert alongside his brother Seun Kuti. The concert is significant as it is the first concert that the brothers have performed together.
On 15 May 2017, Kuti was referred to in the Guinness World Records under the catalog of a single note held on a sax in a method called circular breathing. He set the records at 51 min 35 seconds.

Albums

No Cause for Alarm? (1989, Polygram)
M.Y.O.B (1991, Kalakuta Records)
Femi Kuti (1995, Tabu/Motown)
Shoki Shoki (1998, Barclay/Polygram/Fontana MCA)
Fight to Win (2001, Barclay/Polygram/Fontana MCA/Wraase)
Day by Day (2008, Wrasse Records)
Africa for Africa (2010 /2011, Wrasse Records/Knitting Factory Records)
No Place for My Dream (2013, Knitting Factory Records)
One People One World (2018, Knitting Factory Records)
Stop the Hate (2021, Partisan Records)
Journey Through Life (2025, Partisan Records)

Live albums

Africa Shrine (Live CD) (2004, P-Vine)
Live at the Shrine (Deluxe Edition DVD) + Africa Shrine (Live CD) (2005, Palm Pictures/Umvd)

Collections

The Best of Femi Kuti (2004, Umvd/Wrasse)
Femi Kuti The Definitive Collection (2007, Wrasse Records)

Appearances

"Ala Jalkoum" (on the album Rachid Taha Live) (2001, Mondo Melodia)
"Vampires" (on the album Radio Retaliation by Thievery Corporation) (2008, ESL Music)
"Make You Crazy×Make You Crazy2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Make You Crazy3:37" (on the album Hope for the Hopeless) by Brett Dennen (2008)
Finding Fela (2014) a documentary film directed by Alex Gibney
"Arabesque" (on the album Everyday Life by Coldplay) (2019)

Awards and honours

As of 2022, Kuti has been nominated for six Grammy Awards in multiple categories. He was nominated four times (in 2002, 2009, 2011, and 2013) in the Best World Music Album category. For the 2022 Grammy Awards, Femi and his son Made were nominated for Best Global Music Album and Femi was nominated for Best Global Music Performance.
On October 20, 2022, Kuti was awarded as a Chevalier des arts et des lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Ministry of Culture in Paris.