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in the lead up to his visit to hamburg on april 9 with his band THE POSITIVE FORCE, TINA EDWARDS highlights a living legend: FEMI KUTI.
there’s no more powerful afrobeat lineage than the KUTI family. son of afrobeat innovator FELA, grandson of activist FUNMILAYO RANSOME-KUTI, brother to EGYPT 80’s present-day leader, SEAN; saxophonist, vocalist and bandleader FEMI KUTI is a force in himself with decades of inherited wisdom.
over his career, the four times grammy nominee has continued to expand the language of afrobeat, drawing on aspects of hip-hop, electronic music and punk. he spent years honing his craft in his father’s band, EGYPT 80, before releasing his debut album, ‘no cause for alarm’ in 1989. FELA publicly dismissed the record. despite his father’s distaste for it, it set FEMI on his own distinct path, to which fans followed. speaking of the rift and his decision to leave EGYPT 80, FEMI shared, „if i wanted to play music, i had to be FEMI KUTI“.
today, FEMI KUTI wears the afobeat crown. with eleven studio and two live albums behind him, he’s carried the torch whilst bridging new ground. his latest album, ‘journey through life’, was released on partisan last year, and is FEMI’s first time fully-producing his own record. in true form, he continues to deliver hard-hitting truths via rhythm and groove. with themes of political corruption and social injustice—how could you not expect it from FEMI?—‘journey through life’ is also a deeply personal record. speaking of the record, he said:
„journey through life is basically a summary of my life from my childhood to adulthood. all through my life family has been a solid foundation, from my parents, grandparents, to my siblings, cousins and now my children, my nieces and nephews, soon my grandchildren, and true to my song at the end of the day for me family is all that matters. i believe many events happen in our lives that draw us away from each other like an undercurrent, but the essence is to manage such events and let love prevail”
a truly impactful artist, FEMI KUTI can be considered nothing less than a living legend.
TINA EDWARDS is a london based broadcaster, dj and music journalist. she’s the co-founder of queer jazz and re:sonate, and hosts jazz-ish jazz club for bandcamp. she also shares music recommendations with a community of 170k music lovers on instagram.
