Why I Chose to Live in Alagbole and Not New York
Femi Kuti, a world record holder with the sax and four-time Grammy awards nominee, delivered an electric performance to an exclusive audience in Lagos recently. Before wowing the appreciative audience the world-renowned Afrobeat exponent and Fela Anikulap
Fresh from tours to Belgrade and Paris, Femi Kuti was in Lagos last week to headline a concert at the Sheraton Hotel. The event was put together by his management company, Chocolate City in collaboration with Marriot International to achieve two objectives: promote Kuti’s latest album, One People, One World, while also rewarding loyalty programme members (Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest) with exclusive access to the event.
The nature of the event meant there was a pre-concert meet-and-greet over cocktails, which allowed unfettered access to the ace musician. Kuti was cheerful and open, chatty and ready to engage in conversation. The mood was no different minutes later when he agreed to grant an interview.
This was slightly surprising, considering he hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with some sections of the media in the past. He must be in a good place; his enthusiastic demeanour, athletic physique and glowing skin are almost at variance with his greying hair, the only indication that he is 56 years old.
“I feel over the course of my career, the press at certain times did not do justice to me,” he says. “They either used my father or another artiste to undermine my credibility as an artiste. And the social media wasn’t in place at this time so a journalist could brainwash a million people.
“A lot of people have fallen for this stereotype journalism but now, because of social media, it’s opening up for me, slowly but surely. I can put my own stories out and many people can voice their support directly.”
He has made sure not to let negativity from any side hinder him. “I don’t let this disturb my progress because when you look at these things, you feel heartbroken or discouraged and give up. But in the beginning, I used this kind of stories to propel me to be stronger and this is what got me more determined to be where I am today.”
Among many other achievements, Femi Kuti holds the Guinness World Record for a single note held on a sax in a method called circular breathing. A little over a year ago (May 2017), he blew a note uninterrupted for 51 minutes and 35 seconds, eclipsing the 45 minutes and six seconds set by Kenny G in 1997.
“When I started, I was just showing my dexterity and improvisation and how good I wanted to become on the sax. But everybody kept mentioning Kenny G. I wasn’t doing it because I was in competition with Kenny G.
“Nobody saw the beauty of my improvisation. But the more they said it (Kenny G), the more I thought of going after the record. And I broke it. But it wasn’t my intention. Now that I’ve done it, I don’t want to think about it anymore. I just want to show that beauty of improvisation and my dexterity on the saxophone,” Kuti says.
You can argue that the name Kuti brings up images of rebellion and you may be right. Being Fela’s first son and a one-time