The son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti spoke of his father’s bravery in utilizing “music as a weapon” forward of an immersive exhibition opening on the Paris Philharmonic on Thursday.
“As an alternative of choosing up a gun, music was the one device he had. It was a weapon to make use of towards authority, towards colonisation and corrupt African governments,” mentioned Femi Kuti, 60, himself a vastly profitable musician.
The Paris Philharmonic is paying homage to Fela Kuti by recreating the environment of his sweaty, politically-charged nightclub in Nigeria, The Shrine, that grew to become a beacon for international stars within the Nineteen Seventies together with Stevie Marvel and Paul McCartney.
Kuti died from AIDS problems in 1997, however his pioneering work stays as potent as ever, regularly cited by at present’s stars reminiscent of or Flea from Purple Scorching Chili Peppers, or Beyonce and Jay-Z who sampled his hit “Zombie” on “Homecoming Reside”.
“I am not stunned. Nice individuals like Miles Davis already talked about Fela,” mentioned Femi Kuti of his father’s continued reputation. “Afrobeat was the essential factor of hip-hop, it is the place hip-hop acquired its sauce from.”
Fela’s politics have additionally remained potent.
“After we began engaged on this exhibition undertaking, the Black Lives Matter motion emerged and Fela’s combat within the 70s and 80s discovered resonance there,” mentioned Alexandre Girard-Muscagorry, one of many curators of the immersive exhibition.
Kuti was harassed all through a lot of his life by the army authorities in Nigeria for his relentless criticism of their corruption and violent misrule.
There was a very vicious response after he refused to participate in an official music pageant in 1977, as a substitute organising a parallel occasion that grew to become far more fashionable and attracted worldwide stars together with Stevie Marvel.
– ‘Out of Africa’ –
Troopers responded to his counter-festival by burning down his house and pushing his mom out of a first-floor window, inflicting accidents which led to her demise a yr later, Femi Kuti mentioned.
“He was a voice for the unvoiced, the one opponent who was courageous sufficient to deal with the hardcore army dictators at the moment and he paid a really excessive worth,” mentioned Femi Kuti.
However it was in the end the genius of his music that made him so fashionable, creating one thing totally new with its mixture of free-jazz, soul, funk and Yoruba.
McCartney was certainly one of many impressed to return to The Shrine in Lagos, the place he recorded his album “Band on the Run”.
“Fela got here out of Africa with this unimaginable sound that caught the ears of everyone,” mentioned his son.
“To make use of this music as a political weapon and message — that caught the eye of the world and particularly France, possibly due to the connection to its personal rebellions.”
