Nigerian Afrobeat icon Femi Kuti has revealed the reasons behind his decision to leave his father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s legendary band. The musician shared his story during a recent conversation on the Afropolitan podcast, reflecting on the pressures of growing up in the shadow of his father’s monumental legacy.
Femi, 63, explained that he left the band to carve out his own identity. “I did not have any possibility of my life,” he said, describing the constant expectation to follow in Fela’s footsteps.
Recalling his school days, he said peers and teachers would often ask, “Aren’t you going to be like your dad or play music?” The pressure to emulate Fela was intense. “If I wanted to play music, I had to be Femi Kuti. I used the same mathematical thought that I cannot be Fela,” he added.
Femi also shared how his early life was influenced by Fela’s style. “He usually dressed me like himself. I was like mini Fela. I just thought I should better look for myself fast, or I’m going to be a very unhappy man. So I went back to my mother,” he recounted.
After forming his own band, Femi faced resistance from his father’s fans and the press, who were often critical and unsupportive. “It was very difficult to find a good write-up about me then because the press hated me, and at this time, there was no internet for me to defend myself,” he said.
He also highlighted the personal constraints of living under Fela’s shadow. “Being under my father, I didn’t have any possibility of my own life, including having children. I saw my life in his life,” Femi said, emphasizing that stepping out was essential for both his career and personal freedom.
Femi Kuti’s candid revelations shed light on the challenges of growing up in a legendary family while forging an independent path in music. His journey underscores the balance between honoring a legacy and creating one’s own identity.
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