Give Us Free

Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti liberates us all

By Edward M. Garnes Jr.

The following interview is an exclusive excerpt from award winning writer Edward M. Garnes, Jr.’s long awaited collection Other Side of The Game: Rare Testimonials On Music & Black Cultural Production to be published by Home Grown in 2009.

Femi Kuti is what happens when the rhythms sections of James Brown, George Clinton, and James Brown all aim at redemption. He’s the soul prince of Afrobeat, a polyrhythmic blend of jazz, funk, and African percussion driven into international acclaim by his late father, Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. The award winning Nigerian musician has kept his family legacy in tact while defining his own musical space with classic songs of freedom and spiritual transformation including “Black Men Know Yourself,” “Beng Beng Beng,” “’97,” and “Wonder Wonder.” Besides inheriting his father’s musical soul, he also shares his inclination towards issues of social justice as the revered composer is known for challenging African politics and speaking out on the international AIDS crisis.

Celebrating his Definitive Collection release, Kuti talks freedom, black music, and second slavery in a rare interview with Ed Garnes.

ED: I have admired how you have never taken the bait of others who want you to compete with your father’s legacy. Speak to how you a spent a career forging a distinct musical identity of your own; yet incorporating some of the spirit of his work.

KUTI : This question comes up very often. In Africa, we don’t look at father and son relationships as rivals. We see our fathers as our teacher, whether or not it is to our sons or daughters. In a way, it then becomes a tradition in which to follow in our fathers footsteps. This is not dissimilar to the griot culture where stories are passed on from adult to child and so on. All we are doing is carrying on the message my father started to create a more fair society for everyone.

ED: Though you grew up listening to the Motown sound of the states, what about jazz (Miles and Coltrane) spoke to you? What were other key influences in your musical development?

KUTI : I really grew up listening to Jazz rather than Motown. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and even Dizzie Gillespie.. you can’t beat these artists. Obviously, I listened to other artists such as James Brown, Stevie Wonder, KC and the Sunshine Band, but ultimately, I always go back to pure jazz. I have also started to listen to more of my fathers’ music which again I find quite inspirational. When I did my last studio album, Fight To Win, the record company at the time put me in touch with Mos Def and Common. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but ultimately, I am totally ensconced in afrobeat. My new studio album is pure afrobeat. Who knows what will influence me next.

ED: Afrobeat is a mix of many forms of music out of the black experience. Your music has a “soul force”. How have you been able to make Afrobeat popular amongst folks in America who grew up with R&B, Soul, and Hip Hop?

KUTI: I don’t know – afrobeat is a very joyous music and I think people pick up on the beat and you can’t but help yourself to dance and enjoy yourself. I think music is what you feel not what you are influenced by. Look at Latin music, salsa has a beat that can be quite infectious although it is sung in a different language!

ED: Music can often affect the values by which we live and die. You have always mixed social commentary and politics in your work as well as worked towards issues of justice and freedom outside of just music. How do you see your role as an artist?

KUTI: My father got it right “Music is a Weapon” and we have to use it carefully. I write about things that I feel passionate about. If this message (in the music) gets across and makes a difference, then what a bonus. People need to enjoy the afrobeat experience, but they need to also take a message away with them.

ED: You have long been an activist on the AIDS crisis in America and abroad. Why do you feel there has been so much cultural miscommunication about the real effects of disease and AIDS’ origin? What are some strategies you have found useful in spreading AIDS awareness?

KUTI: AIDS is a massive issue all over the world; especially in Africa. AIDS in Africa is definitely being spread due to ignorance. A lot of it has to do with the church and how they are against using contraception. We need to talk more openly about the whole issue and to educate people. In 10 years, there will be massive crises. For example, I went to Zimbabwe and there are so many orphans and elderly people. This has huge repercussions on the future of these countries.

ED: Speak to the concept of “second slavery” and practical ways black folks can achieve liberation and personal freedom.

Slavery is not over yet. It has taken new forms, that’s all. For example, England celebrated, this year, the abolition of slavery, but it’s a total hypocrisy! Over the last five centuries, Africa has never been given the chance to rule itself. During the independence era, Europe and the United States set up and supported the governments who respected their interests. Yes, slavery has disappeared but the attributes of slavery have not gone. Africans continue to work in offices for the West today, they wear western clothes, and they become Christians and Muslims. The American and European multinationals help themselves to our natural resources as and when it suits them. They pump our oil and enrich a handful of individuals who enslave their people. That’s what I mean by second slavery.

Can I change any of this… N’Krumah tried, Marcus Garvey, Malcom X, even my father. We can’t give up. We need to keep on trying. My son needs to and his son needs to until we start to see the change that we want.

About Ed Award winning writer, educator, counselor, and activist Edward M. Garnes, Jr. is the founder of From Afros to Shelltoes: Art, Action, and Conversation, a nationally acclaimed series of cultural productions confronting the social divide between elders and hip hop heads, and holds a B.A. in English Writing from DePauw University and a M.A. in Counseling from Michigan State University. His seminal essay, ” Sweet Tea Ethics: Black Luv, Healthcare, and Cultural Mistrust,” currently appears in Not In My Family: AIDS in the African American Community, a 2007 NAACP Image Award nominated collection edited by Gil Robertson. (www.afrostoshelltoes.com).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

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