Afropolitian dreaming with Blitz The Ambassador - An interview

Originally published @ afropop.org!

Blitz the Ambassador is one of the leading voices in the growing movement connecting the classic sound of American hip-hop with stories and musical traditions of Africa and the African diaspora. The title of his new album, Afropolitan Dreams (released on April 28 by Jakarta Records), refers to this mixture of African roots with a  cosmopolitan disposition. Now five albums into his career, Blitz has received  numerous accolades, including last year’s Musician of the Year award from the African Diaspora Awards. We have been big supporters of his music and message for several years and featured Blitz on “The Trans-National African Hip-Hop Train” program. Recently, Jesse Brent caught up with the internationally-minded artist via Skype to discuss Afropolitan Dreams and his vision for an artistically strengthened Africa.

Jesse Brent: What does “Afropolitan” mean for you and how does that word relate to your audience?

Blitz the Ambassador: It’s not just about people who get to physically travel. I feel like that’s a misconception about this Afropolitan idea–that it’s like people getting on planes and zooming all over the world. To me, it’s more about people who mentally travel, and people who are engaged with issues that are global, and issues that affect us all as a race of human beings on this planet. So, that’s important–that I connect with folks that are local and folks that are global as well, and influence, and give people an opportunity to hear a new African story.

Do you see a movement forming with more and more people that you associate with who are thinking the same way as you?

Absolutely. I think that movement was been forming way before I got here and way before I even became a musician. I think the idea of connecting intellectually and giving each other some tools to be able to solve our problems has been there for a while. The only difference is that I’m using a specific medium, which is hip-hop music, to bridge those gaps. There are a lot of people doing the same, and I’m glad that we’re getting more of a platform to do that.

How would you say you relate to music that’s going on right now in Ghana?

Well, I never really lost touch with music from back home. That’s where I began my career as a musician. I’ve always had contact, and I’ve always been linked with those movements, as they’ve evolved from the original hiplife base and highlife before hiplife. Now there are sub-genres like azonto and others that have been birthed out of all these movements. I’m as connected as possible to it. On my new record, I feature Sarkodie, who is one of the most popular artists right now in Ghana, and one of the leaders of his sub-genre, as well. I’m always trying to make sure I’m linked up and connected because, in my opinion, all we’re doing right now, as this intermediary, is creating a lane or a highway of sort so that people from the continent can have access to a global audience. That’s not so easy–not having that bridge. So, one of the things I’m most focused on is trying to create this bridge so that people have a portal into the African sound.

 You went back to Ghana before you started recording, right?

Yep. I did before and after.

What did you get out of those trips that made it onto the album?

The entire vibe, but more importantly, what I think I got was the fact that I’m needed at home. That influenced the record greatly–knowing that what I’m doing globally is important, but there’s nothing more important than people in Africa having access to me.

In terms of American hip-hop, how do you see the scene now? And who are some of your favorite current rappers from the U.S.?

The scene in America is kind of what it’s always been. The loudest voices are the ones that are commercial in a way that helps sell products, and the least commercial have less of a platform. And I think it goes back to the beginning of the culture. I don’t think that it’s anything new. I think that what’s new now is just the discrepancy between how many people are in the balance. It’s way out of balance now, in terms of how many people are even willing to take that risk to not be a commercial product. But again, that’s what the culture has always been, and so, you’ll always find the more authentic and more content-driven stuff underground and you’ll find the least content-driven stuff in the commercial mainstream. Who are some of my favorites? I listen to a lot of Kendrick Lamar. I listen to a lot of Joey Bada$$, the Underachievers, and a few other guys. I don’t necessarily listen to them looking for anything new because that story that they’re telling, in my opinion, has been told, but I listen to them for their take on it–how they’re able to take an old story and tell it with some updates. So, them I appreciate, but if you ask me what I’m most interested in–it’s music that isn’t coming from America because, again, that story has been widely told. What’s interesting to me now is music that’s telling me about a story that’s new. So when Kendrick Lamar says “Compton,” I’m already familiar with Compton because I know Dr. Dre. I’ve heard The Chronic and I know what Compton is. But when somebody’s telling me about Nairobi or Johannesburg or Bogotá, wherever–I’m not familiar with it, so it’s way more interesting to me, as an audience member, to pick apart what they’re saying, and I appreciate that.

You’re recording without any kind of major label support, basically on your own. Have you had a lot of difficulties with that or has that felt pretty liberating?

I guess you can’t have one without the other. Having the freedom to choose, having the freedom to say “no,” having the freedom to access your audience however you want, whenever you want, without middlemen, who don’t really know or care about the culture–whether it’s African culture, whether it’s hip-hop culture… They’re just in it for the culture of money, and how money influences. So, I have that freedom. I never have to ask a single question. If I want to release my next album for free, I’ll release it for free. If I want to release my next record tomorrow, I’ll release it tomorrow. Nobody stands in the way of my art and my audience. Of course, with that comes a big challenge. The big challenge is how do you fund your revolution? How do you fund this idea that you have? You don’t want your art to suffer from not having access to funds. You don’t want your art to not be heard because it’s not getting the love that it should from these bigger blogs and these bigger magazines.

But I’ve also learned that you can create something that’s absolutely yours and it’s unique. And the best way I’ve been able to do it is invest greatly in my live show. So, with my live show I’ve been able to go around the world, speaking first-hand about my music. I’m not really locked into this idea that I have to be a commercial or corporate rapper. I probably make more touring than most of these guys will, especially with the deals that they have today–with 360 deals where the label takes everything. I’m probably doing much better and I probably have way more autonomy. I definitely have more autonomy, as far as my work and how I release it and when I release it. So, I think that’s the main thing, but one comes with the other, and I embrace both.

Can you talk about some of the people you worked with on this record, like Angelique Kidjo and Seun Kuti? What was it like to work with them?

It was great. All these people were really gracious and they understand the story and they understand the message and they understand what I’m trying to achieve, in terms of the story. They were all great in terms of their contributions–from Nneka to Angelique to Oum to Just A Band. Everybody was super with the story. That was very easy. I didn’t have any problems in terms of sound. And also I wanted to prove that I’m not a solitary voice. I use a lot of voices to tell this story. It’s important for me to show the multi-dimensionality of our movement, going back to the legends–like the Angeliques–all the way down to some of the ones who are much more up-and-coming like the Just A Bands or Amma Whatt. It was important that I was able to make those bridges happen.

The band that you’ve been working with, Embassy Ensemble–you’ve been with them for a long time, right?

Yeah, I’ve developed a very solid crew. But now I have an international crew. I have a crew that I play with in the western hemisphere and I have a crew that I play with more in the eastern hemisphere. So it’s like we’re all playing at the same time. When I’m playing North America, South America, Japan, I have a crew. When I’m playing Asia, Europe, Africa, I have another crew. Australia–I have another crew. It’s a very global operation, but everybody is super committed and understands what this mission is and we’re able to put on some really amazing shows.

It sounds like you’ve been touring quite a bit. Is that part of the reason why it took so long for this album to come out? I understand it took two years for this album to come together.

Yeah, it did take two years. But, if you remember, I also released an EP in between–the Warm Up EP, which came out last year. So, really, that’s a whole lot of music that I’ve been working on and releasing periodically. Also, I never really care about time. What I care about is the quality of the product and how the product is going to live. If it takes me five years to make a record, it takes me five years to make a record. I’m not ever going to rush the record because I feel like people need one. I feel like if people wait for the right product, the product will live on for as long as possible. So, I don’t really focus on that. Touring does have an effect, but I think that it also has a super positive effect, in that you’re able to test new music, you’re able to test new ideas, and I’m also playing some of the biggest festivals in the world. I’m opening for Sting. I’m opening for some really huge names globally. I’m also getting ideas from watching these guys. When I’m backstage and, say, Damien Marley’s playing, when I’m back stage and Public Enemy’s playing, I’m learning a lot and I’m adding to my artistry. And it’s also informing my story. So, all of that has been really positive, and I’m trying to maintain a really good work ethic to make sure that I’m never going too long without art–whether it’s a short film, whether it’s new videos, whether it’s music, whether it’s visual arts, I’m just constantly trying to release work that I will influence.

The song “Call Waiting” with Angelique Kidjo is about traveling and calling home. What has that been like to be on the road and still maintain your ties to home?

It’s difficult–not being physically present with family, missing important events in family, but it’s the life you choose when you choose a name like The Ambassador and your tour schedule is something ridiculous. It’s a choice I’ve made and I have to live with. I believe in transparency and vulnerability and writing music that’s honest to me. That’s why I wrote “Call Waiting”–because it’s true. That’s my truth. It helps me cope with that when other people can sympathize and say, “Yeah, I get it.” It makes it easier to be on this journey, trying to influence the world while still maintaining a family. So, that definitely is one of my favorite songs on the album.

I read the article you wrote for the blog Africa Is A Country, and I was really impressed by it. In the article, you talk about how you got this cassette tape from your brother and it had a lot of classic hip-hop on it, including Public Enemy. And now, more recently, you’ve gotten to be on stage with Chuck D and even collaborate with him.

Yeah, it’s been amazing. It’s like when your destiny finds you, but it’s also a testament to hard work and dedication. I’ve never stopped believing that I was good enough. I’ve never stopped believing that my story was important. It’s definitely not easy when you’re ahead of your time, when you’re ahead of the understanding of who you are. When I was doing this in 2001, 2002, nobody could even fathom what an African rapper would sound like, what an African rapper, who has immigrated to America, would sound like, what kind of samples you would use to tell your story. So, in a lot of ways, we’re pioneers and we’re the first of this breed. Chuck D is a mentor in a way, as well. And that is the most amazing thing one can ever think about. This guy used to be on my wall. And here I am with full access to him, supporting this amazing movement. Chuck D’s unique in a lot of ways because he understands the effect hip-hop has globally. I don’t think a lot of so-called legends do. I don’t think a lot of people who came early in the game understood their impact globally or understand how that global impact has ricocheted back here. Chuck understands the ricochet and understands that I’m part of that ricochet. It’s absurd to think that you can speak for 40 years to a people and not be spoken back to. That’s what hip-hop culture was. All we’re doing is talking back. So it’s been great to have Chuck D in my corner.

What would you say that you’ve learned from him?

Just stay humble. Frankly, he’s probably one of the most humble guys that you’ll ever meet, but it’s not dumb humility. It’s humility that’s steeped in a deep knowledge of his power and his role in the world. That is a stark reminder to me that, as I get bigger and as I get more global, the more my responsibility is to remain accessible because my accessibility is what’s going to grow my lane of the culture. The less accessible I am, the less my lane is going to grow. Chuck D understands that, and Chuck D has made himself very available to young artists coming up, very available to the movement. So, that’s one thing that I’ve learned from him.

You’ve been living in Brooklyn for a while, right? How many years have you been here?

It’s probably going on eight years, maybe nine.

 Have you thought about returning to Ghana to live there?

Absolutely. Yes. I have made major investments into doing that. That’s where the record ends. The record ends in this limbo, which is, in a lot of ways, where I am in real life. You have family in America and you have family in Africa, you have goals in America–I shouldn’t even say America, but in the West because I’m everywhere now–but Africa is where you’re needed the most. I appreciate that people all over the world appreciate what I do. I know that my most important work is the work that is going to be done on the continent of Africa, in a lot of ways: figuring out ways that we can bridge some of these gaps that have been created in post-colonial ruling, and, whether it’s culturally, whether it’s socially… I don’t believe in politics. I think that politics is meant to separate. I’m more of a culturalist. I understand that the power that I have is cultural and I have to be able to use that to bridge a lot of gaps that we have currently, as African people all over the continent. That’s my major work. That’s not easy work, but I know that’s my next frontier. So, here I am trying to make that leap forward.

What would you say in Ghana, in particular, needs help and what would you hope to do by returning there?

I think, specifically, it’s an issue of funding–funding for the arts. I think that’s one of our biggest problems because there isn’t a lot of value that’s placed on art. If you’re young in Africa and you say you want to be a painter or a singer or a graphic designer, nobody really takes you seriously. It’s like you’re a joke. We still are locked into the colonial concept of what success is. You have all these professions that you’re supposed to go for, and if you’re not one of those–like a doctor or a lawyer, a pilot… The world has moved on and I think we need to show that it’s possible to make it as an artist in Africa because our role is the most important. The issues that we have–a lot of them can easily be solved in a cultural context when you have people dialoguing. Unfortunately, a lot of dialogue doesn’t happen because there isn’t a lot of public space. Because there isn’t a lot of public space there aren’t a lot of public arts situations that go on in the continent. For instance, when I go back to play in Africa, a lot of times, I have to go under the auspices of the French Consul or the Goethe-Institut or the British Council. Those are very typical. And I’m not the only one. A ton of artists that go to Africa have to go through those mediums. The problem with that is that you’re clearly doing the bidding of these foreign countries, who have their own selfish goals. You’re just a pawn for them. My goal, in time, is to create a situation where we’re able to perform and influence, culturally, while being supported by our states or our people because that’s when I feel like the dialogue is the most open and the most accessible. It’s not just geared toward a certain class of people. It’s a more general and more broad and more proletarian approach where you can influence a larger amount of people.

I saw that you wrote a film about boxing in Ghana. Can you tell me anything about that?

It’s a film that I’ve been trying to make for a while, and I recently got contacted by Isaiah Washington, who’s an amazing actor and producer, who starred in numerous films, and he’s going to be coming on board to help produce the film. It’s exciting. I’m a fan of boxing–the idea of it: the lone warrior. The story is about a community, which is Bukom, and that’s what the movie’s called. The community is a boxing community, and everybody in that town is, one way or another, connected to boxing. The story is about what happens when a physical location that has harnessed all this energy gets taken away. What happens to the people, and what happens to the culture of boxing? It’s juxtaposed with a lot of land grabbing, which is happening right now in a lot of places on the continent, where big multinational corporations are buying up huge chunks of land for one reason or another–usually for development purposes–for developing things that locals will never be able to afford. Because Bukom’s a coastal town it’s very prime for this kind of incursion. That’s what the film is about. What happens when the land is threatened–a land that is so important to a sport or a culture?

Do you see a comparison between music and boxing a little bit?

It’s an art. Boxing is an art form. If you’re anybody that appreciates art then there’s most certainly a connection. Like I always say, Ali was a lyrical boxer. His punches were lyrical. You have to know when to duck. You’ve gotta know when to drop the chorus, drop the hook, you know? So that’s very similar. It’s all about timing. Music is all about timing and boxing’s all about timing.

Is there anything else that you’d like to say about your album or about what’s next for you?

The album is out now. I’d really like for everybody to pick it up and experience the journey. I think that it’s going to open up a lot of dialogue, as far as what it means to be a young African immigrant and your role globally, but also your role at home.

Voodoo Funk: An Exotic Creature in West Africa

Voodoo Funk: An Exotic Creature in West Africa 
(originally published @ hyponik.com)

Whilst most of us are slaves to the 9-5, Voodoo Funk’s Frank Gossner has been busy fulfilling his dream. Refusing to adhere to the norm, he’s dedicated his life to acting on impulse and travelling the world with an incredibly refreshing attitude that one can’t help but admire. Having previously lived in New York and Berlin, 2005 marked a landmark in Gossner’s life as he decided to give up everything and spend 3 years of his life living in West Africa with the direct intention of collecting records. 5 years later and one amazing blog later, he’s running one of the best re-issue labels around in the form of Voodoo Funk. The imprint brings you the best funk, soul and disco Africa has to offer to a Western audience, with a focus on the slew of superb and largely unknown music the area has to offer.
With a recent run of 12”s proving to be essential purchases for any aficionados of the genre, we caught up with Frank as he relaxes in his current location of Costa Rica to discuss politics, cockroaches and the pursuit of happiness…

Hey Frank, how’s it going? You’re in Costa Rica at the moment, what are you getting up to over there? Any digging?

No, I’m not doing any digging around here, I’m still 100% focused on West African music. I moved to Costa Rica with the intention to enjoy the country, do some surfing, hike the mountains and collect epyphitic orchids and bromeliads. I’m also still going to Africa at least once a year and working on various re-issue projects.

Going back to the beginning, how exactly did you get into African music?

I was friends with Phillip Lehman, the owner of Desco Records, when I lived in NYC back in the 90s and got to see some of the very first performances of Antibalas. It was then that I started listening to some Fela Kuti records. I was doing this Deep Funk night in Berlin from 2000 to 2005 and kept going over to the US to go on digging trips. Sometime in 2004 (I think) I was digging for funk 45s at this defunct old record store in Philadelphia and for some strange reason they had an few dozen mint releases from the Nigerian Tabansi label sitting in their office, amongst them the incredibly rare Pax Nicholas album that I would later re-issue on Daptone Records. At around the same time I bought the first few Soundway releases and it became clear that there must be much, much more exciting stuff out there than just Fela records.

What was the tipping point for you to go from a guy who just seeks what he can get his hands on in the Western market to going to the source? It’s a sign of dedication that few people have.

Well, if you’re anywhere outside of Africa, you are limited to reissues – which at around 2004 or 2005 wasn’t too much. Sure there was the occasional obscure looking original African record you could buy on eBay but those rarely had sound clips, often looked very intriguing but then the music wasn’t always what I was looking for. A lot of people have been going to Africa for records for years now, so there’s been a lot more African vinyl floating around on eBay. In fact, I think we’ve actually reached a threshold now as these records become increasingly harder to find in Africa itself.

I always love going places. Even when I was still collecting and DJing US deep funk 45s and bought loads of records online, it was still important to me to go get at least some of my records from the source. This way you can experience the culture out of which the music was born. You get to see the places, eat the food, maybe take in some live music. That’s a much more rewarding thing to do than staring at a computer screen.

In 2005 I had just unexpectedly run into a significant amount of money so I just decided to go for it and move to West Africa. I had originally aimed for Ghana or Benin but then my wife managed to get a job in Guinea which had, and to some extend still has, an incredible music scene. The capital Conakry is only a few hours by car away from Sierra Leone and it’s capital city of Freetown, which had just come to peace after a long and horrible civil war. Freetown was where Nigerian funk superstar Geraldo Pino had begun his career and there were several indicators that records could be found there and because of the long war it was clear that no other digger had been there in recent years. So we just went, packed our stuff and moved to Africa.

It’s admirable that you’re willing to drop everything to follow your dreams, whether it be moving to Africa to collect records or Costa Rica to collect orchids. How do you perceive the way you live your life? I think a lot of people would love to have the conviction to fulfill their ambitions like you do but maybe don’t believe it’s possible…

I’m a firm believer that anything is possible if you really want it, at least if you’re willing to put in the work and to accept the risks and possible consequences. Leading an impulsive life that focuses on enjoying myself to the fullest works for me because I don’t have a family to raise and never had any interest in pursuing a conventional career, owning a house or even having a retirement plan.

Did you get any strange reactions being a white Western guy who’s obviously really into African music? Did some of the locals have a bit of trouble getting their head around it?

Not really. Away from the bigger cities, just by being white you already stand out as an exotic creature and get lots of attention. Once you explain that you’re looking for records the first reaction is never surprise or disbelief but people immediately start thinking how they can help you and you find yourself being led though alleyways, from one house to another on a never ending string of wild goose chases. Older people often revel in remembering their youth and seeing these bands live and just love hearing their old records being played again on your portable turntable. And after all, collecting old records is probably the least alienating white man eccentricity they might have experienced or heard of.

Of course, your trips are about far more than just collecting records. What is it about Africa that you really love and makes you keep coming back?

It’s hard to explain, I’m sure everybody who’s ever been to West Africa knows what it is though. There’s the feeling that just about anything, good or bad can happen at pretty much any time. I mean taking an overland bus in Nigeria for one example is pretty much like playing Russian roulette. Traffic anywhere in West Africa can be pretty mind-blowing but Nigeria is on a whole other level. There are huge potholes everywhere that would snap an axle right in half and yet everybody’s driving at break neck speed like they are on the Autobahn. The unbelievable speed, the condition of the road and vehicles and the added constant danger of being stopped by armed highway robbers make for a pretty intense adrenaline rush. Then you have the serenity of some of the smaller towns you stay at where time just appears to stand still, the intensity of the heat, cold beer and good conversation with people you just met. Each different area of every country can be extremely different to anything you’ve seen before, it’s hard to put it in words but it’s all very addictive.

Fela Kuti is probably the most prominent artist in West African music, with a real focus on the political. How far do you think that the political message is important in African funk?

Political messages are always bogus regardless how they are packaged. I’m not a believer in any form of political system. To me, they’re all flawed and all men who are in any position of power are evil. They don’t all start out that way but that’s what they become. Some hide it better than others of course but they are all full of shit.

There is actually very little African music besides Fela that is openly political. Fela’s lyrics can be amazing descriptions of the flaws and the problems Nigeria has had at the time (unfortunately today it’s even worse) but when it comes to his own political aspirations I’m more than skeptical. Most African dictators had originally started out as freedom fighters, liberators, rebels and the like…

I have to tell you that while of course I’m a huge fan of Fela’s music and especially of his earlier lyrics, especially Shuffering and Shmiling, ITT, Yellow Fever, to name a few, I don’t at all like the way he’s being portrayed as some sort of freedom bringer or messiah by people in America or in Europe. Generally I don’t support the glorification of any person. People are always flawed. There’s always a dark side. Glorification distorts and simplifies a person and insults the complexity of human nature. Fela surrounded himself with some pretty hardcore street thugs that he had hired as security at his compound. Some of the EMI producers talked about having received death threats if they don’t do what they were told and Fela treated his musicians mostly pretty badly and I also don’t think they enjoyed being beat up by police and thrown in jail because of Fela’s antics. That’s one of the reasons why they refused to go back with him after that ’78 show in Berlin, that and the rumours he was going to use the proceeds for the European tour to fund his presidential campaign.

Politics in Africa is an incredible topic. There is a ton of material online for anybody who’s interested can read up on. I don’t think pop music is the adequate forum though.

A lot of the places you went digging in Africa didn’t have the best conditions. It seems that pretty much everywhere was crawling with cockroaches and caked in mud. Is there anything that would stop you looking through a crate?

No, I would never be stopped looking though a crate for any reason, I always found amazing stuff just towards the bottom of the most un-promising looking vessel. With time I’ve grown completely indifferent to cockroaches. In coastal West Africa they’re everywhere, you’re in their natural habitat. After moving onto our house in Conakry I dug up a small field to plant vegetables and the soil was literally crawling with roaches, there were whole nests of them.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

To not expect too much. Unfortunately, countries like Ghana, Togo and Benin have been pretty much run dry by now. I still have a steady stream of records coming from Nigeria but over there you need a network of local diggers otherwise the chances of finding anything worthwhile are fairly slim.

You’ve found a lot of unique records on your travels, do you ever think there’s an issue of the rarity of a record over-shadowing the actual quality of the music? Sometimes in record collecting I get the feeling that people just want a record because no-one else owns it, rather than because they truly love the music.

I don’t know, I think that’s a matter of your own personal decision. If somebody wants to collect rare records why not? Of course there is an appeal in owning unique things. If a DJ wants to put together a box of records that nobody else has then this puts him at an advantage towards the competition and it offers other people the chance to hear music they haven’t heard before. Every consumer has the option to buy or listen to whatever music they want and I wouldn’t want to judge over their motives. At least they’re listening to music and listening to music is always good for you.

 There’s a bit of a jump from collecting records to running a label. What’s your vision behind Voodoo Funk as a label?

I’m not sure if I have a vision. I’m a very impulsive kind of person and never really have a long-term plan for anything… For now I’m in the middle of a series of 5 Nigerian Disco and Boogie 12″s and there’ll be an amazingly deep Afro Funk album by the Martin Brothers coming out in a couple of months. Once these 6 releases are on the market we’ll see what the numbers look like and if this seems like a sustainable venture there might be more or maybe I’ll decide to spend more time surfing the beaches and hiking the cloud forests of Central America.

You must have an absolutely huge collection of music, how did you manage to decide what records you wanted to reissue?

At this time most my entire collection is in a storage facility on Berlin. I decided to not move my records to Costa Rica with me because of the high risk of house robberies, earthquakes (we had a 6.5 a few months ago and a 4-5 every couple of weeks) and mould because of the tropical humidity. Right now I’m selecting my reissues from whatever new stock I have coming in from my friends in Ghana and Nigeria.

How do you process the sheer volume of music that must come into your hands. Do you have a system to make sure every record you receive is listened to, or is it a bit more relaxed than that?

I don’t have much of a system. When I have new records coming in, I always clean them up as best as possible. Then I wait for a good day to listen to them, put aside what goes into the DJ pile and decide what to keep for my own, personal collection. Everything then usually gets stored away in my record room and whenever I feel like listening to a certain record, I go in there and usually emerge an hour or so later with a stack of stuff that more often than not doesn’t include what I initially set out to find… I’m not really a librarian. Right now I actually don’t have too many records at the house because I shipped everything off into storage last year so I basically started again from scratch. It’s going to be interesting once I’m reunited with my main collection.

You seem to be a fan of the aesthetics of African records, at least judging from the time you’ve put into the presentation of the latest 12″s. Would you say that’s true?

Yes, of course. It was important to me to do something special with the packaging, I wanted to put them into company sleeves to give them that typical Disco Maxi Single look but then I also wanted to represent the look of the original record the songs were taken from. I figured the best way to do this would be to add a poster. Nobody puts out records with bonus posters anymore and I just love posters.

I’m a big admirer of the artwork on African records from all musical genres and eras. For years I’ve been planning on doing a coffee table book with my friend Uchenna Ikonne from Comb & Razor, who’s also been facilitating the licensing for most of my releases and some day I’m sure we’re going to do it. You’ll need a strong coffee table because this thing is going to be heavy…

What’s your plans for the future of Voodoo Funk? The last two 12″s came out in a pretty short period of time, can we expect to see this rate maintained?

Oh yeah, we’re going to keep knocking them out one after the other. All 5 should be out before the first snow.

Finally, what’s your most prized possession? I assume it might be a record?

I actually prize my freedom and the joy of living much higher than any object. Records are just pieces of plastic and cardboard. Don’t get me wrong, records are great things as far as things go. They provide a unique thrill when you try to hunt them down and finding a great record that you never knew existed can be quite exhilarating. It feels really good to play them for people and to get a crowd to dance to music they’ve never heard before. I also love to listen to music all by myself and I also can’t deny that it’s nice to have objects around that mean something to me but I can be just as content while sitting down with a book or drinking with a good friend.


Thanx for an interesting interview, 
Patrick Henderson!

Femi Kuti ... current interview (2013)

Published @ German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Translated by googletranslator.


Femi Kuti in the interview: "There never was so much suffering in the world"Hardly a respected musician in Africa died in 1997, Nigerian Fela Kuti, inventor of Afrobeat. With monster grooves and many political statements, his son Femi Kuti leads for years continued his charismatic father's legacy. In this interview he talks about the global crisis of poverty, harassment of Nigerian government and the idiosyncratic style of upbringing his father.
 
If you look back at the history of pop, one encounters many visionaries, eccentrics and charismatics. But even in this brilliant panoply of types of Nigerians Fela Kuti is a rather unique appearance. That is of course his music, the fact that he personally invented a new style - Afrobeat - and this contributed to several dozen LPs out into the world. To the same extent it is but to his political activism, his opposition to the Nigerian military junta of the seventies and he criticized as cynical and corrupt state apparatus. In the West, political activism by celebrities is often pose, and if not, then it is usually harmless at least. Kuti, however, was brutally harassed for years by the Nigerian state. 1,000 troops in 1977 destroyed his commune in Lagos, the Kalakuta Republic, beat him and threw his mother out of a window, whereupon they died. In 1984, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison flimsy grounds, but even that did not stop him from continuing to express his radical political ideas. When he died of AIDS in 1997, it was quiet around him, in recent years, however, his music has experienced a great revival, and penetrated into the western indie underground.

When I saw Fela's son Femi Kuti for the first time live, I was thunderstruck: it was as though Fela Kuti himself on the stage, and the band played the son was just as groovy as you would expect from the father. If you listen closely, you will of course also differences between Fela and Femi. However, I no second case, the pop, in which a son would be equally convincingly in the footsteps of his father. Is just his new album No Place For My Dream (Naive / Indigo) published whose Afrobeat grooves and monsters political statements perpetuate the legacy of Fela Kuti worthy. I recently had the opportunity to call Femi Kuti at home in Lagos.Femi Kuti, Fela Kuti, her father has been dead for 16 years, yet his music is as alive as ever. Meanwhile Playing the hipsters in Berlin and Brooklyn Afrobeat.

As a little boy I had the feeling that my father's music is something special. Therefore it does not surprise me when I hear today of the young Afro-beat bands in Australia, Japan, Europe or America. Even my father, wherever he is, is certainly very glad.

Likely to be important for this revival that his music is now much easier to get than in his lifetime.When Fela died in 1997, there were countless prey pressings of his music. We have stopped and its extensive catalog licensed to record companies, where his music really is at heart. For the family, it is very important that her albums are available all over the world.

How close was their relationship with Fela when you grew up? As far as I know, you have not lived together as a child with him.

That's true, then I am certainly occurred as a teenager in his belt and pulled into the Kalakuta Republic (Note: Fela Kuti's commune in Lagos). During this time we had a very close relationship. I was his right hand and had done much for him.

And before that?

Fela was not a conventional father. He traveled a lot, played a gig somewhere, was on trial, was hiding from the police. Nevertheless, he was present in the life of me and my sisters, we always knew that he loved us. But we have also understood very early on that we have no father to sit down in the evening and doing homework with us.

Did you sometimes feel that you have to fight for his attention?

Do not fight directly. Which actually often hundreds of people around him - sheer madness. But as kids we thought it was great. We had a lot of freedom. Fela did not even want us to go to school - he found that there we would get an education in the old colonial style and did not like it. As we have said, we remain at home today, he was very pleased. As we grew older, we understood better what has occupied it and why things are done as they happened.

Ziggy Marley once told me that his childhood was often quite hard.

Well, it is well known that Fela was pursued for many years by the Nigerian military and the secret police. They often beat him up, harassed and arrested. My mother tried to protect us from these things and keep us close to himself. But the older I got, the more I noticed it.

Have you ever been beaten up by the police?

Yes, I did. But much less severe than my father. Have taken into consideration the fact that I was still a child.Despite all this harassment Fela never caved.

That is the reason why he is still viewed that way. He has never made compromises and can not be dissuaded with so much pressure from his convictions. The more you hit him, the more he was! Therefore his music is relevant to today. The people still impresses its stability.

1978 Fela Kuti married 27 women in one day. You were 16 - what you thought of this action?

Who had no great meaning for me and my siblings. Whatever he did, we supported him. We often put on his side, sometimes against our mother, and often causes them to eventually agreed with my father. Well, she probably realized that we have not understood exactly what it was. Maybe she's done it only willing to love the peace.

What was your role in the band of her father?

I started as a saxophonist and then worked my way up to deputy bandleader. As Fela went to prison in 1984, I have taken over the band for two years. 1986 I then founded my own band.

With your father, you have often played in his nightclub in Lagos, the Shrine. For many fans, the Afrobeat is an almost mythical place. How would you describe the atmosphere at the Shrine?

It was a very free place. Very colorful, with colored lights and lots of girls. If you entered the Shrine, you felt like being on another planet. For many people it was a place where they could escape the difficult life in Nigeria and concerns over the government. The music was real, and there was always plenty of dancing.Once I met a German who has lived in Lagos in the seventies and was often at the Shrine itself.

That whites came to the Shrine, was not so unusual. Fela had many foreign friends, many embassy staff were regularly. Even Paul McCartney was in 1973 at the Shrine.

Now you operate the Shrine.

Yes, I try it at least. However, it is not the same location. My sister and I have built a new Shrine in 2000, with the proceeds of Fela's catalog.

What is the biggest difference to the old Shrine?

Likely that the public consumption of marijuana is now no longer tolerated. Thus, there was simply too much trouble. We have tried to make the New Afrika Shrine is not just a concert stage, but a spiritual place, where we also honor great men like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara. We have many ideas to advance the Shrine - Unfortunately we lack the means. We have found great difficulty, sponsors, because many companies are afraid to squander it with the Nigerian government if they support us.

If Fela Kuti by the Nigerian government because still regarded as enemies?

That is now changing. In Lagos, a museum was opened for my father, a second to be built there, where he was born. Important for this change was the success of the Broadway musical Fela! That was BNXgsm of people like Will Smith, Jay-Z and Beyonce. Something impressed by the Nigerian government - because they have suddenly afraid to stand as an enemy of Fela. By 2010, however, we had regular problems with the government, always the Shrine was closed.

What is her relationship with her brother Seun?

Good.

He appears occasionally in the Shrine, right?

Yes, once a month.

How would you define Afrobeat music?

Fela blues and jazz to African ears adjusted and combined with African rhythms and melodies.Its success is probably also been very important that he had the brilliant drummer Tony Allen in his band.One can not say that. The rhythms of all came from my father. None came from Tony Allen. I wonder why all ignore this fact in Europe and raise Tony Allen in the sky. I have nothing against him, he's a great drummer, a friend, even a father figure. But I remember it clearly, as my father told him at rehearsals, what to play. Not just once or twice - always. Fela has studied music for four years in London, he could read music, compose and play almost all instruments. On all his records is composed, Arranged and produced by Fela Kuti - and so it was.

When you have established your own band in the eighties - it was difficult to contact shadow of Fela?I saw no shadow, but many people have made me stress. Everyone has compared me to him. You'll never be as good as your father, the people said. Negative, negative, negative. I'm glad I got through this storm. His influence on me and my music, I never denied, but I had to find my own way. I wanted to make clear to everyone that I'm also gifted. But I am not in a competition with him or even try to outflank him.

Fela has given you any advice?

When I showed him my first songs, he said: "The songs are beautiful, the melodies I like, but you can not dance to it. If you want to have success in Africa, your music has to be danceable. "That I have taken to heart.

Fela describes Nigeria as a country under the yoke of corrupt politicians who are stuck with large companies and the old colonial powers under a blanket. Is that still valid?

Nothing has changed. The Nigerian government has failed. If we had honest politicians who love their country and get serious with the fight against corruption, Nigeria would today among the most advanced countries in Africa. But Nigeria is unfortunately part of the problem and not part of the solution. We may at such assessment but also African history not forgotten - the slave trade, colonial rule, the bad governments that followed. You can not expect to have such problems overnight behind. I hope that someday Africa will to freedom, the way of Nelson Mandela and my father followed. But I'm afraid I will not live to see that.This pessimistic view of the world I find on your new album No Place For My Dream again, though, the music is groovy again.

I want my listeners realize what is happening today in the world. As long as I live, there has never been so much suffering in the world. I try going to talk not only about African issues. Look to Haiti: This was once big in the media - who is talking about it now? But it's the people there better? Look further to Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, America - everywhere there are unemployed people who can not feed their families. Look to terrorism in Mali, Nigeria, London. I think the world is heading towards a state of anarchy. There has never been as scared as now - but thanks to the music, we can still feel a bit of fun and joy anyway.

Femi Kuti about the musical FELA!

I cried when I saw Fela! On Broadway – Femi Kuti

Just like his father Fela, Femi’s commitment to political and social causes is not in doubt. A towering talent in his own right, the son of the Afrobeat legend has been nominated for a Grammy Award three times in the world music category, in 2003, 2010 and 2012, but has never won. In this exclusive Interview with Sam Umukoro and Kolade Arogundade, Femi talks about his life, career, Fela and of course, you guessed right, political and social issues. 

SUI: One important book in African studies is Walter Rodney’s book, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’.  Don’t you think it’s high time Africans began to look at how Africans underdeveloped Africa, instead of blaming Europe?

Femi Kuti: No, that is not the point. It is an escapist route. I hate that statement when many Africans say, get over it. Get over what, 500 years of slavery? Can you imagine if slavery did not happen?
Before slavery, Africa had a culture. We had medicine and our cure for malaria. Slavery brought diseases that we were not used to; slavery brought industry and people were criticizing industry way back as 2,000 years ago, that it was going to pollute the air, sea. Industry is not the way. We must deal with nature. It’s taken them 200 years to understand that they were wrong, 500 years to understand that slavery was wrong.

Now we have to understand that slavery would not have ended if it was left to the Africans alone, Now, Europe understood that what they were doing then was unjust, but imagine the propaganda from kings and queens of Europe to convince their people that we were cannibals, idol worshipers, horrible people, bastards, godless monkeys… you cannot imagine the pandemonium that was even going in their minds, because at that time in history, there were no footages to show what had happened, the footages we have are those of the Ku Klux Klan hanging people… But we need to appreciate that history, where is the blame for the African?

 SUI: In essence, Africans need to understand their history?

Femi Kuti: Yes. You want to blame (President Goodluck) Jonathan for not knowing this history, was this history taught in his school? I won’t be surprised if it wasn’t.

I’m sure Jonathan does not appreciate Lumumba, know much about Kwame Nkrumah, or the significance of what Nkrumah did when he formed the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Let’s look at how he got into power. Did he intend to become president? He was the deputy governor of Bayelsa state until he was chosen as vice president to (late President Umaru) Yar’ Adua.

This is somebody that I’m sure has no understanding of the magnitude of this African history because if he did, he would have been going in that direction. Africans should be asking questions, like why does America and Russia have the right to veto our votes? These countries talk about democracy and yet are not democratic themselves.

Our leaders should start talking as leaders. They talk like puppets. It might take us another 100 years to come out of this phase of corruption and mismanagement. But the good thing is that we are more aware, and more Africans are talking about these things.

Also, Nigerians are freer today, unlike in the 70′s, because a man, my father, sacrificed himself for many years, before the Gani Fawehinmis, Femi Falanas, Dr. Beko Ransome Kutis. We have to appreciate this fact.

Fela stood alone and when he spoke then, many people, even his family, opposed him. When he said, change your name from Ransome to Anikulapo, because he felt it was a colonial and slave name, they could not understand where Fela was coming from. His family rejected it; his brothers carried the name till their death.

For Fela, it was about being yourself, loving one’s culture. But his family didn’t understand this. How long is it going to take us to understand that, for us, (bearing) ‘Chinyere’ is better than ‘Mary’, why should I want to be John instead of Lakunle? Why should I wear a coat and tie in this hot sun? Why can’t we love our own attire?

The deeper you look into this problem, you find people who cannot reason. When you even start this topic with them, they are not ready because of education and their family tradition or what their father told them, that Jesus is coming soon… we are too focused on religion… Do you know how much money churches and mosques make from the distortion of facts and history, just to enslave the human mind? Do you know how much money we put into Saudi Arabia or the Vatican City in the name of religion?

The good thing is that there are many of us who are becoming open minded. Why did Fela revolt? Fela’s father and grandfather were pastors, but Fela went to America, he read all these books and then he said ‘Aha! There’s too much discrepancy in the American life and this is Nigeria…’ He read books and went out of his way to do his own music. Just imagine if Fela had followed the path of his father. He would have been singing ‘O, Oluwa wa jesu ti wa ni’.

SUI: Talking about slavery, one of the arguments put about Africa today by some people is that the continent is not so much better off than it was during the colonial era, especially with the numerous wars, conflicts and bad leadership…


Femi Kuti: Oh, that is an insult. Those people who said so should be slapped. Imagine the crimes that were committed here. We need to consider that.

I have English blood, but I’m not going to say because of my English blood, I’m going to run away from the fact of what happened in Africa. I have a British passport; I don’t need to be here. But we cannot run away from the truth. It will always vindicate one. It’s not my path to escape and find the easy way in life.

First of all, democracy is not a European way of government; it was practiced long ago before Jesus Christ, even in Africa where Africans elected their kings and chiefs to represent the communities. The chiefs were as powerful as the kings because when one committee says ‘no’, there could be war. So it was about unanimity. They all had to come to an agreement about issues.

And that meeting could go on for days, because when they come out in disagreement, war can erupt. So we were already practicing this system of democracy. Let us look at the system of democracy in practice in modern times, where is it really working, in Turkey, Cyprus, England, America? US President Obama wants to close Guantanamo Bay, but the legislators refused. He’s having sleepless nights. What favour have they (the West) done us?

Look at South Africa and the end of apartheid, for me, I think they just used Mandela as a figurehead because Europe and America wanted to do business with South Africa, and they used that as an excuse. They wanted trade because of the diamonds and all the resources they could get from South Africa, but they needed to do it openly. So they ended apartheid, with the belief that they will still have the power eventually. How really democratic are they in South Africa?

They don’t teach history in many schools in Nigeria today, it is a subject that nobody cares about anymore. We need to teach our children history, right from the primary school level, for them to better understand the issues. They don’t teach history in my son’s school.

samumukoro.com

Femi Kuti talks ... 2013

Femi Kuti talks music, family and gays in Nigeria

 Nigerian Femi Kuti is the eldest son of famed Afrobeat innovator Fela Kuti. 


He joined Fela's band before creating his own group named Positive Force. He went on to be nominated for three Grammys as well as tour consistently ever since. His father, Fela, died of AIDS complications in the late '90s but has since been immortalized on Broadway with the musical Fela!

We tracked Kuti down all the way to Nigeria to find out the state of the world there and chat about his upcoming tour date in Chicago.

Windy City Media Group: Hello, Femi. Where in the world are you today?

Femi Kuti: I'm in Lagos, Nigeria.

WCT: When does the tour begin?

Femi Kuti: In 2013, I will constantly be on tour.

WCT: How long have you been performing?

Femi Kuti: Thirteen years plus…

WCT: Did you always feel a lot of pressure to perform, having such a legendary father?

Femi Kuti: Yes, since I was about 6 years old.

WCT: Even your son now plays saxophone.

Femi Kuti: Yes; right now he is in England studying the classical piano.

WCT: Does he go out on tour with you?

Femi Kuti: He did for years but he's in college now. I think it is more important for him to finish his studies.

WCT: Does he want to be a performer?

Femi Kuti: I'm not sure. He might be a producer. That's why it's so important for him to go now and decide what he wants to do. It's his call. I'm not going to be telling him what to do.

WCT: When your band Positive Force plays live, is it very improvisational?

Femi Kuti: It depends on the venue. We have a set list and know what we want to do but we can change it for the audience. We might decide to change a few tunes on the night of the show. We might get bored along the way and say we have to do it differently that night. What we are doing is taking selections from my new album coming out and previous albums.

WCT: When is the new album coming out?

Femi Kuti: Hopefully by the end of March, but definitely by April...

WCT: I heard it will be more Afrobeat-centered.

Femi Kuti: Yes, it will. It sounds great so far!

WCT: What will it be called?

Femi Kuti: No Place for My Dream.



WCT: Where did the title originate?

Femi Kuti: It came from me. It is my story on setting out to achieve freedom and justice. People are discouraging it, saying it is impossible and just a dream. I keep trying and I am determined. They say for me to wake up from my dream and this is reality; corruption will never end and your life will always be like this. I raise my voice but they say, "There is no place for my dream."

WCT: Speaking of oppression, how are gay people treated in Nigeria that you have noticed recently?

Femi Kuti: There are gay people here but it is not an open fact. I think there is a law against it but there are many gay people here. Nobody really talks about it.

WCT: So is gay society very underground?

Femi Kuti: I wouldn't say underground, but gay people don't flaunt it here. Everybody may know when there is a gay or lesbian person around, but it is not their business. The problem was that they wanted an open marriage but it is very conservative and religious here. Religious people are very adamant against it. Many of us have gay friends and people like me don't care. There are many fanatics that do and consider it taboo. They have the power sometimes.

WCT: Do you think the opinion of Nigeria has changed on the subject of AIDS?

Femi Kuti: I believe people are more enlightened about it now. There used to be a kind of stigma about it. It is not like in my father's time when nobody wanted to talk about it. There was a campaign that I was a big part of in 2000 for about four years. It has died down a bit. There is a lot of awareness about it now.

WCT: What did you think of the musical Fela?

Femi Kuti: I thought it was fantastic. I was very impressed.

WCT: It recently played in Chicago and is coming back for another run.

Femi Kuti: I love Chicago. I've always had a great time there. I've been there about nine times.

WCT: How many people are you bringing with you on the tour?

Femi Kuti: We are not bringing the whole band this time because one of the dancers left and to get a new visa was impossible. It takes about six months. So we will be 12 this time, one dancer short.

WCT: We will still make it a party. Looking forward to seeing the experience live.

Femi Kuti: Yes, by all means. I will see you there.


windycitymediagroup.com
 

Femi Kuti talking about Fela (March 2013)

Why I Didn’t Talk To Fela For Six Years

Fela Anikulapo’s son, Femi, tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI and GBENGA ADENIJI what people didn’t know about the late Afrobeat musician.

Why did your father choose a controversial lifestyle?

It was because he was too honest about his way of life. He liked women and he did not hide it. He liked to smoke marijuana and he did it in the open. Many people like women but they do it secretly. There are so many brothels all around the world but Fela never patronised them, many people go there to pay for s**x.
You will be shocked to know the number of people that smoke marijuana in Nigeria and all over the world. I hope you know that some countries are legalising the smoking of marijuana now. He was truthful about his way of life while many of us are hypocritical about ours. Many people were envious that he was too honest and bold and that was why there were so many controversies about his life.

Most of his friends who are highly-placed admire women even girls young enough to be their daughters. They leave their matrimonial homes to meet them secretly. Some of them hide in hotels to do what they cannot do in the open. Many of them smoke but they are not brave enough to say they smoke. All the call girls you see on Allen Avenue, who picks them? Fela never did.

How was he able to manage his many wives?

It was very stressful for him. Do not forget that he divorced all of them. They were not faithful to him. When he decided to marry them, he did so for a reason. He said they had been with him in difficult times. They endured police harassment and beating. But they never left. Though they were very loyal to him, they still had a bad image in the public because people were calling them prostitutes.

He felt that the best way to protect them was to marry them. They became Fela’s queens, so the society had to respect them. I believe he loved them and he was already sleeping with them before he married them. It was not really a big deal to anybody that knew them. For instance, my mother knew this was happening so it was not a hidden thing. The big deal was how he was able to convince the 27 of them to marry him same day.

Did Fela talk you into music?

He did not influence me as such. I always knew I would go into music. It was just a question of how and when. He was however a big motivation in my life because every child wants to be like his or her father. The son of a plumber will want to be like his father, especially if he is learning the trade early. If the son loves the father, he will want to emulate him. I am not a different son. I love my father and wanted to do what he was doing. The only question hanging over that ambition was whether I could fulfil that ambition perfectly.

How did he punish any of his children who misbehaved?

He beat us. In fact, I was the one who got the most beating in the house when we were young.

Can you remember things you did that made him beat you?

I stole my mother’s £1 to buy chewing gum one day. You can imagine how many wraps of chewing gum that money would buy. They were not less than 100. My friend convinced me to go and steal the money but we were caught while chewing the gum. When my father asked me where I got the money from, I was speechless. I was still thinking of what to say when he started beating me with his hand. He then warned me never to steal again.

He also beat me when he caught me with cigarette in 1969. My mother used to smoke and he saw me put the cigarette in my mouth. I did not really smoke the cigarette because it was not lit, I only put it in my mouth but it angered him when he saw what I did. He beat me again and warned me not to touch cigarette again.
Why do you think it has been difficult to replicate Fela’s style of music?

It is so because the foundation of the band was truthful. He was not pretentious. He really believed in what he was saying. Despite all the police harassment, he was not moved. Many people would have gone to seek political asylum in another country but Fela did not do that. He had so many opportunities outside Nigeria and he would have taken advantage of them to run away from his enemies. These are the things that every generation admires in him.

What are those things you imbibed from your father?

I may not be able to mention them. In the way I deal with people, I am very truthful. If I say I am going to do something, I would do it. But I am more of my mother than my father. My elder sister has more of my father than I do. I am more of a practical person. If I plan to do something, I will think of the consequences. My father would never weigh any decision before executing it. If he planned to go to Dodan Barracks, he would just go there. As for me, I make plans before I do anything. My father would not write a Will. But because I know that I could get killed, I had written my Will a long ago.

I know that in a divorce case, my wife could claim one third of my property, so I would not go into wedlock. The most important thing to me right now are my children. Now, I will not play to the gallery. I will not say because people love me, they must come first before my family. Who are my family? My children of course. So, whether you love me or not, I will let you know that my children come before you, take it or leave it. I live this way because I learnt from my father’s life, the decisions he took and the consequences. When you learn from someone, you don’t have to do what he did. Fela did what he did for his own reasons. I cannot criticise why he did what he did.

Also, we must remember the stardom. Nobody was as big as my father. He had over 100 people around him daily when he became a star. I cannot live like that because I don’t want too many people around me. I saw what people did to him. It was too much. I can keep the Afrika Shrine open to everybody but not my house.

If you come to my home, you will only see me, my kids and may be my girlfriend. Sometimes, my friends visit but I don’t keep a crowd around for any reason, my father did. I like women but I saw the harassment he went through with 27 wives. It is not that I don’t want 27 wives but I know what will happen because of what happened to my father. I can’t tell a woman that I will be faithful in our relationship. That was part of the problem of my marriage. I cannot be faithful. I will not lie about that. It is not that I cannot be faithful, but I cannot start my relationship by saying I am going to be faithful till death do us part. There are possibilities that if another woman comes and I like her, I cannot give the assurance that I will not have an affair with her. I have no intention whatsoever to bring all of them under one roof. My intention now is to cater for my children and do my job to the best of my ability.

Did Fela have any special food?

He ate any food. He liked cakes and ice cream too. I don’t like cakes. I can eat ice cream and chocolate once in a while but my father loved them all. If somebody is celebrating and there is a cake, I can take a little piece not to offend my host. My father could die for cakes. If you visited him and looked inside his refrigerator, you would see lots of cake in it.

Your father did not hide his hatred for western medicine. Is it the same with you?

I grew up not liking tablets too. I grew up to be a traditionalist like my dad. But I later realised that there are too many fake traditional medicine in our society. The government must understand that many of these herbs are claiming the lives of our people. We must ask ourselves which of the herbs has been scientifically proven to cure malaria and the ailment they claim to cure. I once had malaria and I drank herbs but I was not cured. I felt very uncomfortable. I will not say that herb does not work because Africa believes in it. It is a fact that we did survive before orthodox medicine came.

There was African traditional medicine, but where is it today? Everywhere, you will see people hawking herbs, saying it work for this and that. People buy them and mix with hot drinks. Really, when you are mixing alcohol with herbs, you are damaging your liver. While you think you are curing one thing, if it does work, you are damaging another thing in your body. Until we have concrete fact to say something works for the body, we will be deceiving ourselves.

Why do you think Fela hated former President Olusegun Obasanjo?

Olusegun Obasanjo was a bad leader. He did not do well for Nigeria. He ruled this country three times but has nothing to show for it. They called the soldiers that burnt Kalakuta Republic and killed my grandmother unknown soldiers. The Federal Government is yet to apologise for their action against the Kuti family. Whether they like it or not, Fela was one of the biggest stars from Africa. As the days go by, people are beginning to understand the importance of his music. The Lagos State Government is building a museum in his honour. The family does not have that kind of money to build a museum. It is not the governor’s money but the state government money. But the governor took the decision on behalf of the people.

Another museum is also being built Ogun State. Governors are beginning to understand that Kuti’s name cannot be swept under the carpet. The family has done so much for Nigeria and the world. Many people are playing afrobeat style of music today because Fela invented it. Some people are saying he did not start it. But the question is: Who started it and stood firm using the music creatively? Fela stood for many great things and his contribution to the society cannot be pushed aside.

Did he have time to take the family out for leisure?

In 1967, I remember that he took us to Onikan swimming pool and also Federal Palace Hotel. That was the first and last outing for fun with us. He always made it clear that he was not a conventional father. He did not want us to go to school not because he did not like education, but because he believed that education was colonial. He believed that it was structured to show that Europe is supreme and Africa is not good. Even when he took me out of school in my fourth year in secondary school, I had acquired vast knowledge about the outside world through the books I read at home. I was known as a professor in the Kalakuta Republic. I read books such as Blackman and Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. I read so much that I even found there was a Pharaoh Kuti in Egypt. I wondered if this Egyptian Pharaoh Kuti was in any way related to the Kuti family in Nigeria. My father said we are probably related.

Which school were you attending before Fela made that decision?

I was studying at Baptist Academy and he withdrew me from there when Obasanjo deployed soldiers to the school. I later went to Igbobi College and spent a year. He advised me to leave the school in form four. Many believed I would become a nonentity because of his action. There was disagreement within the family, my mother was against it, but my dad stood his ground. She wondered why my dad took me out of school when he went to one of the best schools in the UK.

She also said since he did not teach me music how then would I be great in life? My father told her not to worry that I would be great. I was not happy too and did not speak to him for six years. He told me that he was confident that I would be great. I did not know what he saw in me. The day my album, Wonder Wonder, became popular and I was becoming a household name in Nigeria, he called our family members and told them that the same boy he withdrew from school had become a successful musician.

At that time, it was only my father and King Sunny Ade that were travelling abroad frequently for musical concerts. But I suddenly started travelling abroad more than the two of them because I was becoming known more outside the country.

Will I do the same for my son? No. He will get a good education. I will let him understand street life which I grew up to know so that he will have a feel of it, but he must be formally educated.

Where were you when soldiers invaded Kalakuta Republic?

I was coming back from the school when I saw the soldiers. They wanted to arrest me. But I managed to escape through a place called Alagbole behind Kalakuta. I ran and went to pick my younger sister at Mary Magdalene Primary School. We then crossed over the railway and went home.

Is there anything you miss about Fela?

I miss his being a grandfather. I think he would have been a fantastic grandfather. He had already been showing the signs with my sister’s daughter and my son. He died in 1997 and my son was born in 1995. I know that what he was not able to do for us, he would have done for our children if he were still alive.


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