Being Fela’s son not reason for my success as a musician – Seun Kuti

Grammy-nominated singer Seun Kuti has said his musical success isn’t tied to being the son of late Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti.

He said he and his elder brother, Femi Kuti, and nephew, Made Kuti, have had successful music careers because of their “deliberate efforts” and “dedication”.

The controversial singer said Fela’s father, Reverend Israel Ransome-Kuti, was also a musician but people never credited his musical achievements to his father.

Speaking in a recent interview with actress Iyabo Ojo, Kuti said, “It is not because of our dad that we are successful in music. My brother, Femi Kuti is 60. I am 40. My nephew, Made Kute is behind us now too, and he is in his 20s. And he is actually the best of all of us. That’s what it means; it continues to progress because we are really dedicated to it.

“It’s not just because we are Fela’s children. I mean, nobody says Fela is a musician because his father was a musician. Nobody knows that Fela’s father was a musician. My grandfather was a musician. He recorded albums, he wrote a lot of hymns. My great grandfather was the first person in Nigeria to record a song. We came from a lineage of musicians.

“We even have a brother that grew up in Australia that didn’t grow up with the family, he didn’t even know that he was a Kuti until his 50s, he’s not a musician but he is a creative art director. It’s what we are. We are creative people. So, when people say we are successful musicians because we are Fela’s children, they are just being half clever.”