THE AFROBEAT DYNASTY CONTINUES WITH MADE KUTI
“Fela used to give us lots of sweets.” MADE KUTI
“IF YOU MAKE music, do it in a way that hasn’t been done before.” Made Anikulapo Kuti takes a moment to consider what he learnt at college, London’s Trinity Laban. “You will be criticised more for doing something well that already exists than you will be for doing something terribly if it has never been done before.”
At 25, Made (pronounced Mah-dy) has an enviable pedigree. His grandfather, Fela, was the creator of Afrobeat whose politically-charged songs made him Nigeria’s Public Enemy Number 1 in the 1970s. His father, Femi, followed in the family business, standing in for Fela when legal woes prevented touring.
“I was only two when Fela died, so I have no memories of him, just stories. I know he had a sweet tooth and used to give us lots of sweets, and he came to my naming ceremony, but at that point he was too sick to come in, and he stayed in his taxi.”
Although he studied at Trinity – “I was surprised how far Afrobeat music had spread: I didn’t think the head of composition at a conservatoire would be a Fela fan” – Kuti points to lessons he learnt at home, The Shrine in Lagos, as being his most important influence. The club and compound owned by the Kutis, it became the family residence for security reasons, and there, four nights a week, he would see his father lead his group, Positive Force, through a show heaving with consciousness-raising politics and heavy funk.
Since 2018, Made Kuti has been part of that band, but 2021 will see Made and Femi release Legacy+, a joint double long-player. Made’s half, For(e)ward, sees him play all the instruments.
“It wasn’t the plan. I was just practising a lot because I wanted to be better at everything I sort of knew – trumpet, bass, piano, drums… guitar was the hardest. Then I just thought, Yeah, I can do this. It became a challenge. And they are very different albums. Dad was very strict, in a positive way: ‘You can’t be me, you can’t be Fela, be yourself.’”
Made also plays percussion and bass on his father’s tracks. So will he make more in royalties than his father? “That’s a good point, I’d never thought of that. I should. I’ll need to run that by him. You may have created the first quarrel between father and son.”
Made Kuti’s For(e)ward, and Femi Kuti’s Stop The Hate, will be released as the Legacy+ double album on Partisan on February 5.