Controversial Nigerian singer, Seun Kuti has declared that being the son of the late Afrobeats icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti had no effect on his career as a musician.
In a recent interview with actress Iyabo Ojo, he made this claim and mentioned that although his grandpa, Reverend Israel Ransome-Kuti, was also a musician, Fela’s musical accomplishments were never attributed to him.
Seun attributed his success in music to his intentional work and commitment, as did his elder brother Femi Kuti and nephew Made Kuti.
According to the controversial artiste, Made Kuti is the best among the musicians in the family, despite being the youngest of all of them.
He said;
“It is not because of our dad that we are successful in music. My brother, Femi Kuti is 60. I am 40. My nephew, Made Kuti is behind us now too, and he is in his 20s. And he is actually the best of all of us. That’s what it means; it continues to progress because we are really dedicated to it.
It’s not just because we are Fela’s children. I mean, nobody says Fela is a musician because his father was a musician. Nobody knows that Fela’s father was a musician. My grandfather was a musician. He recorded albums, he wrote a lot of hymns. My great grandfather was the first person in Nigeria to record a song. We came from a lineage of musicians.
We even have a brother that grew up in Australia that didn’t grow up with the family, he didn’t even know that he was a Kuti until his 50s, he’s not a musician but he is a creative art director. It’s what we are. We are creative people. So, when people say we are successful musicians because we are Fela’s children, they are just being half clever.”
Watch him speak below.