My success as a musician isn’t because I’m Fela’s son, says Seun Kuti

The Grammy-nominated musician Seun Kuti has stated that being the late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti’s son has no bearing on his success in the music industry.

He claimed that his “deliberate efforts” and “dedication” are what allowed him, his older brother Femi Kuti, and his nephew Made Kuti to have successful music careers.

The contentious singer claimed that although Fela’s father, Reverend Israel Ransome-Kuti, was a musician as well, no one ever gave his father credit for Fela’s musical accomplishments.

Kuti recently stated, “It is not because of our dad that we are successful in music,” in an interview with actress Iyabo Ojo. Sixty is my brother Femi Kuti. I am forty years old. Now behind us is my nephew Made Kute, who is in his 20s. In actuality, he is the best among all of us. That’s what it means; it keeps going forward because we’re genuinely committed to it.

“It goes beyond the fact that we are Fela’s offspring. Really, no one claims that Fela is a musician just because his dad was one. The fact that Fela’s father was a musician is unknown. My grandfather played an instrument. He composed numerous hymns and recorded albums. The first person to record a song in Nigeria was my great-grandfather. Our ancestors were musicians”.

“We even have an Australian-born brother who was raised apart from the family; he didn’t even realise he was a Kuti until he was in his 50s; he works as a creative art director rather than a musician. We are what we are. We are imaginative individuals. Therefore, it is only half-true when people claim that we are successful musicians because we are Fela’s offspring.”