Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti has addressed misconceptions surrounding his late father, the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, clarifying that Fela did not battle the Nigerian government but rather targeted the wealthy elite.
In a recent appearance on the Zero Conditions podcast, Seun Kuti discussed the prevalent myths about his father and his activism. He highlighted that Fela’s struggle was against the affluent and not the state itself.
“People have a lot of misconceptions about my family and what we’ve done or what we didn’t,” Seun Kuti said. “For example, I even believed for a long time that my dad bought a Benz, cut the roof off, and used it to carry vegetables. I believed it because I grew up hearing it everywhere. Until one day, somebody said it in front of my dad, and he was shocked.”
Seun Kuti explained that these myths were propagated to discredit Fela and paint him as eccentric and irrational. He noted that these stories were meant to divert attention from the real issues Fela addressed.
“But back then when colonization just ended, doing such in the 1970s when people were suffering, he couldn’t have done that then. But there were rumors that he did it because they wanted people to think that he was crazy and frivolous,” Seun said.
He emphasized that Fela’s music, including tracks like “Lady,” “Swegbe and Akpako,” “Ikoyi Blindness,” and “Ikoyi versus Mushin,” were critiques aimed at Nigeria’s wealthy elite rather than a direct confrontation with the government.
“People say Fela fought the government, but Fela did not fight the government of Nigeria. Fela fought the rich folks of Nigeria,” Seun clarified. “That was why the rich people ganged up with the government against him. As the government was physically assaulting him, the rich folks who owned the media were backing them up with lies and propaganda about him to make whatever punishment that they were giving to him seem just.”
Seun Kuti’s remarks shed new light on the nature of Fela Kuti’s activism and the challenges he faced from powerful individuals and institutions.
