Seun Kuti carries his father’s legacy to Strawberry Fields with more than his surname.
As bandleader of Egypt 80, they remain a pinnacle of the Afrobeat movement, a genre Fela pioneered, while continuing his fervent activism. Soon to release his fifth album with the band, Kuti and co. build upon the treasured genre with contemporary influences.
When Fela died in 1997, he wished for his youngest son to lead his band. A mammoth undertaking at any age, Seun was just 14 at the time. Now 41, Kuti describes the succession more plainly; “Nepotism,” he jokes from his home in Lagos, Nigeria.
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Modesty aside, the appointment wasn’t without merit. Kuti began performing with Egypt 80 at age 8. “I was always going to the shows with my dad, so the band was like family to me, and the music was familiar,” he reminisces. “Being on stage was what everyone in the house did, so for me, it was just a part of being a family.”
Kuti enjoyed the innocence of his early years, before officially joining at 12. “I didn’t have any responsibilities, all I had to do was show up and get on stage. I was too young to understand the dedication that one needed to be a musician,” he says. “I enjoyed it very much as a kid, and I still do as an adult.
“I just wish there wasn’t as much of the bullshit we have to deal with today – called the music business.”
Like his father, Kuti leads the Egypt 80 with a saxophone. “It was the most available instrument in the house, there was always a sax somewhere,” he says. Multidisciplinary is common in the band, where he also sings and plays piano. “I always had a music education growing up, even before I started playing sax, I studied the piano for a long time.”
Despite forming in 1979, Kuti says the music keeps Egypt 80 youthful. “The band energy has always been fresh because music is forever,” he proclaims. “That’s the blessing that music gives to musicians – it gives you your best form and your best self.”
A handful of members from the band’s formation remain. “Time is a factor here that we must all understand and give respect to,” poses Kuti. “The band changes as people get older – new blood in, old blood is replaced.” However, he does have misgivings about the term ‘original.’ “When we say that it just means people that played with Fela, but any member of Egypt 80 is an original member,” he adds.
Aside from putting his musical stamp on the band, Kuti is changing its makeup. “Egypt 80 is very intergenerational, but we are working on making it global… that is the next step,” he explains. “[By having] musicians from all over the world, not just Africa, represent the band.”
“Fela’s message is global, and it is diminished if it does not have a global impact, both politically and artistically,” he continues. “It is important that we keep the tradition, but also understand the evolution of our time and bring Fela to where it’s supposed to be in the world today.”
An activist as much as he was a musician, Fela was a proud Pan-African who fought corruption and inequality in Nigeria. Seun’s grandmother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a renowned suffragist and women’s rights activist.
“People speak as if it’s just the Kuti family that is so hard-headed. It’s just the Kuti’s that want to ferment trouble and complain all the time with their music,” says Kuti. “No… it’s just the right thing to do as Africans, and I am glad to be from this lineage of Africans who were not shy or afraid of their responsibility.”
Far from shying away, Kuti has gone as far as reviving and leading his father’s progressive political party. The Movement of the People reformed in 2020 in the wake of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria. It is an issue close to Kuti’s heart, as his grandmother died from injuries sustained by an infamous state-sanctioned raid on his father’s commune.
Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80 will release their new album in October. Fusing traditional and contemporary sounds, Heavier Yet (Lays the Crownless Head) is executively produced by Lenny Kravitz. It also includes a track featuring Zambian-born Sampa the Great.
Having featured on Janelle Monáe’s recent album, Kuti relishes sharing African music. “Our music, our language, our art form must continue to communicate with each other across any divide; land, sea or air. I always enjoy collaborating with artists that I believe are part of this musical family,” explains Kuti. “They don’t necessarily have to be to be African to be a part of this family. They just have to participate in a way where they are not exploiting African people for their selfish interest.”
Electrifying audiences with an exclusive show at WOMADelaide earlier this year, Kuti is excited to return to Australia with new material. The band’s only show aside from the sold-old Strawberry Fields Festival will be at Northcote Theatre in November.
Get tickets to see Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Northcote Theatre on November 14 here. Follow Strawberry Fields on Instagram here.
