Before an immersive exhibition at the Paris Philharmonic opened on Thursday, the son of Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti spoke of his father’s courage in using “music as a weapon.”
The only instrument he had was music, so he chose that instead pulling a pistol. Femi Kuti, 60, a highly successful musician himself, argued that it was a weapon to wield against authority, colonisation, and corrupt African regimes.
By emulating the ambiance of Fela Kuti’s sweaty, politically charged nightclub in Nigeria, The Shrine, which became a mecca for international performers like Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney in the 1970s, the Paris Philharmonic is paying tribute to Fela Kuti.
Although Kuti passed away in 1997 from AIDS-related problems, his groundbreaking work is still powerful today. Today’s celebrities like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beyonce, and Jay-Z, who sampled his smash song “Zombie” on “Homecoming Live,” frequently mention it.
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The Nigerian military rulers persecuted Kuti for the most of his adult life due to his unrelenting criticism of their violent misgovernance and corruption.
When he decided not to participate in an official music festival in 1977 and organised a rival event that attracted international celebrities like Stevie Wonder, there was a particularly nasty backlash.
“I’m not surprised. Great people like Miles Davis already talked about Fela,” said Femi Kuti of his father’s continued popularity. “Afrobeat was the basic element of hip-hop, it’s where hip-hop got its sauce from.”
Fela’s politics have also remained potent.
“When we started working on this exhibition project, the Black Lives Matter movement emerged and Fela’s fight in the 70s and 80s found resonance there,” said Alexandre Girard-Muscagorry, one of the curators of the immersive exhibition.
In response to his counter-festival, soldiers burned down his house and forced his mother out of a first-floor window, injuring her and causing her death a year later, according singer Femi Kuti.
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But in the end, it was his music’s genius, which by fusing free jazz, soul, funk, and Yoruba, created something altogether new and helped him become so well-known.
Many people, including McCartney, were motivated to travel to The Shrine in Lagos to record his album “Band on the Run.”
“He was a voice for the voiceless, the only opponent who was brave enough to tackle the hardcore military dictators at that time and he paid a very high price,” said Femi Kuti.
“Fela came out of Africa with this incredible sound that caught the ears of everybody,” said his son.
“To use this music as a political weapon and message — that caught the attention of the world and especially France, maybe because of the connection to its own rebellions.”
