Kuti has Jamaica on his mind

Norman Munroe, Contributor

Far from being daunted by his famous last name, Seun Kuti is not just excelling in the family business started by his father, the late Nigerian Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti, but has also, along with his older brother and fellow musician, Femi, inherited his father's well-known fearless outspokenness and defiance of authority.

He also has a burning desire to bring to Jamaica his take on Afrobeat, that hypnotic blend of extended rhythms, punctuated by instrumental solos and shifting tempos, all adding up to supremely danceable, foot-tapping music that underpin the searing social commentary of the lyrics. Seun, Fela's youngest son, the youngest of eight offspring and who now leads his father's band, Egypt 80, delivered a blistering performance at the recently held Fuji Rock summer music festival, one of the outdoor musical extravaganzas, not unlike Reggae Sumfest, which are held in Japan each summer. The music had much of the audience on its feet dancing away. In an interview following his performance, Seun described Afrobeat as Nigeria's equivalent of reggae, a vehicle for revolution.

"Afrobeat was created for the emancipation of the black (race) not just in Nigeria, but in the whole of Africa, and everywhere that Africans believe they need a voice and (the need) to express themselves. Afrobeat was created for this reason. It is political music, it is revolutionary music. The music is all about change. I don't sing about fast cars or about love or women or all that, you know. That's not a part of what I believe my music should stand for. Music should be about the majority of the people that it represents and what they go through," Seun declared.

Noting that Bob Marley, a contemporary of Fela Kuti, had been a fan of Afrobeat, Seun declared that one of his greatest desires was to perform in the Caribbean, a part of the world where his travels have not yet taken him to, and particularly in Jamaica. He spoke of his own love of reggae music, particularly dancehall, as well as gospel reggae, despite not being particularly religious himself. He named Morgan Heritage as one of his favourite reggae acts. He also talked about his love for calypso and soca, and the desire to someday go to Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.

All he was waiting for to come to the region, Seun said, was the right offer from a promoter "and I'm there even before he puts down the phone!"

In the annals of
African music, the name 'Kuti' has a storied significance and much has
been written about Fela Kuti, regarding his blend of militant political
activism and extraordinary musicianship, given voice in Afrobeat, the
eclectic but unmistakably African sound he created and the band, Egypt
80, which he founded. Fela died in 1997 from AIDS. Of all his children,
only Femi and Seun have followed in his footsteps. Seun, who, in
addition to now being the band's leader and lead singer, is also a
talented saxophonist, adding to the aggregation's brawny brass section
as well as contributing his own share of instrumental solos. He started
joining his father onstage at age eight singing a few songs and says
that his subsequent evolution into his own musical career was his choice
and had not been pushed on him by his dad.

Seun notes that many
of the corrupt practices in the political establishment in Nigeria and
across Africa, against which his father railed and which saw Fela
imprisoned, harassed and beaten up on more than one occasion, are still
in place and he sees it as his duty to carry forward that legacy. In his
performance, Seun blasted the present Nigerian government for
perpetuating the widening inequalities in Nigerian society where the
riches brought about by the country's oil-based economy have failed to
make a significant dent on poverty, but has made the upper class even
more affluent.

The charismatic, articulate musician says he will
continue to speak out even though he runs the same risks his father did
of running afoul of the Nigerian authorities.

"How can you say
things are improving when the lives of the people are not improving? The
main yardstick to judge any kind of development has to be the people.
And the people must be educated, given health care, infrastructure, so
why are we deceiving ourselves? They are doing that because they want to
keep a few people rich (and) the multinational companies can continue
their exploitation and people can continue to base their lives on false
hopes," Seun said, noting, too, that it was the duty of artistes
everywhere to champion the cause of the oppressed.

While his
outspokenness and refusal to back away from controversy have not yet got
him into the same amount of hot water as it did his father, Seun notes
that there have, nonetheless, been consequences.

"You never get
the good jobs, you never get the endorsements," he notes, but added, "we
cannot continue to use fear as an excuse not to seek change. Bravery is
not common and sometimes I think I'm not brave. Sometimes, I think I'm
more stupid than brave. (But) it's the bigger picture (which is more
important), it is more than me."

This year, the Fuji Rock
Festival's extensive list of acts included former Oasis frontman Liam
Gallagher and his new band Beady Eye, Radiohead, Buddy Guy and Elvis
Costello. Toots and the Maytals was also one of the acts on the line-up.