The quest to identify Fela’s successor: why it’s time to end it – The Conversation CA

Its nearly a quarter of a century since Fela Kuti passed away. Yet, the influence of his music and pan-Africanist thoughts hasnt stopped. Fela was notorious for the deployment of his Afrobeat as a critical tool against human rights violations, social injustice and insensitive cum inept leadership in Africa. And the conversation as to who best fits the profile of a successor has continued unabated.

Many Nigerian artists have gone as far as naming themselves as the reincarnation of Fela. From Dede Mabiakus endless references to his closeness to the Abami Eda the name Fela gave himself a Yoruba phrase that roughly translates to the strange one and Chief Priest, to Charles Charly Boy Oputas antics, a few have pretended to be made of the sort of defiant stuff at Felas core.

Musically, Eedris Abdulkareems success with the 2004 hit Jaga Jaga appeared to have instigated a Fela complex in him to the point that he got Felas eldest son Femi Kutis saxophone support to legitimise his tribute in the single titled Fela (2013).

There have been several other musical tributes to the memory of Fela. These have included Seyi Sodimus remarkable Fela the King (2002) and W4s rather cheesy Like fada, Like son (2012). Beyond these, pop-inclined artistes have sought to appropriate different features of the great musicians legacy. This has included drawing from the rich repertoire of Felas ensemble in embellishing their works, particularly over the last decade.

Yet, undoubtedly the most powerful of the tributes to Fela is 97 (2001) which was recorded and performed by Femi Kuti, himself an accomplished Afrobeat star.

A great deal of work has been done on protest music in Nigeria. But, in my view, studies have been reticent in appreciating the works of Femi.

I set about to fill this gap. In my study, I look at Femis music through the framework of a re-democratised Nigeria and I invariably draw equivalents with Felas works which constituted a major alternative voice through military-ruled Nigeria.

I conclude that, to source for a Fela successor outside the direct lineage of his family is to court the ridiculous that is if there is any need to source for a Fela successor to begin with.

Previous research showed that Femis consciousness through art had begun during military dictatorship in Nigeria. Songs like Wonder Wonder (1995), Plenty Nonsense (1995), Nawa (1995), Stubborn Problem (1995), Sorry Sorry (1998), What Will Tomorrow Bring (1998), and Victim of Life (1998) are standouts from Femis catalogue during that particularly dark era.

The same study posited that Fela was not the only popular musician who confronted the military and tyrannous leaders of Nigeria between independence in 1960 and Felas passing in 1997.

The study discussed the protest contributions by reggae, highlife and other Afrobeat stars during the same period. These included Sonny Okosuns, Tunji Oyelana, Wole Soyinka, Victor Essiet and The Mandators, Majek Fashek, Ras Kimono, Lagbaja and Osayomore Joseph.

Femi Kutis protest credentials spans across both military-ruled and democratic Nigeria. My research further found that hip hop has constituted an accomplice to Femi Kutis work having served as a veritable vehicle in speaking truth to power in Nigeria since re-democratisation in 1999. Contrary to its critics claims, hip hop culture in Nigeria isnt always about hedonism and the objectification of women.

Kuti himself featured American hip hop acts Mos Def and Common on Do Your Best and Missing Link off 2001s Fight to Win album.

A review of Femi Kutis discography from 1989s No Cause for Alarm to 2018s One People One World shows that through all ten albums spanning about 30 years, Femi is undoubtedly the most prolific creator of protest music in Nigeria. Add to this the maturation of his first son Omorinmade Kuti. Now 23 years old, he released his debut single Free Your Mind in 2020 to respectable acclaim in the Afrobeat genre.

Omorinmade who has grown to become an Afrobeat artist in his own right under his fathers watch, makes it even clearer that Femis proximity to the title of a Fela successor is rivalled by none.

Yet, there are no signs that the family plans to rest on past laurels. A new release, Legacy+, is out. A double record comprising Femis Stop the Hate (his 11th album) and Omorinmades debut, For(e)ward, it links three generations of the Kuti dynasty.

Through Legacy+, we find a deliberate merging of Felas legend, Femis unrelenting struggle and Omorinmades forging on through youthful and possibly futuristic Afrobeat.

The sole caveat to this chain is that Felas last son Seun Kuti, also an Afrobeat artist, presents the public space in Nigeria with the most cerebral viewpoints of any artist at the present time. Following the #EndSARS protests, Seun has flown kites on the possibility of relaunching his fathers Movement of the People, a political party through which Fela attempted to run for Nigerias presidency during the Second Republic.

The truth is that no artist through Nigerias postcolonial years has contributed close to what Fela did and continues to do - for human rights and social justice. Appreciation must of course follow the efforts of Charly Boy, Eedris Abdulkareem, Dede Mabiaku, Lagbaja and Wole Soyinka. But, musically and otherwise, only Gani Fawehinmi, the late human rights lawyer, holds the semblance of a record anywhere in the neighbourhood of the organic consistency for the betterment of Nigerian lives close to Felas.

To put it simply, I re-assert the words of singer and song-writer Seyi Sodinmu:

There will never be another Fela

Fela was the King

The King of our music

Oh what a King

The King of Kalakuta

Oh what a King

From a shrine in Lagos, he gave us his music

The music of our lives

The music of our time

The awesome musician

A master composer

Songs of redemption

The fighter of oppression

The pride of Nigeria

The African superstar

Fela!

There will never be another Fela.

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The quest to identify Fela's successor: why it's time to end it - The Conversation CA