"Sampling Fela Doesn’t Make You Fela, So Stop Calling Yourself My Dad" – Seun Kuti Blows Hot, Knocks Afrobeats Artistes
By: Israel Adeleke
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports as gathered that Seun Kuti, the son of the late Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has cautioned Afrobeats musicians not to compare themselves to his father.
OTN News further reports as gathered that Seun, who gave this warning in a recent 'Hits Don’t Lie' podcast episode, disapproved the behavior of some Afrobeats musicians who refer to themselves as Fela’s contemporary counterpart simply because they take inspiration from or sample his songs.
The Grammy-nominated musician clarified that while he is against some Afrobeats singers being compared to the late music icon, he is not against sampling Fela’s songs.
According to him, a few people have done good samples of Fela’s music. But the only critique that I have is that sampling Fela doesn’t make you Fela.
“So, people should stop saying that they are my dad. That is crazy. It crazy when people say that they are the ‘New Fela.’ Where is the ‘Bob Marley’? It is only in Nigeria you hear such. We so wild stuff here. People are wild,” he said.
OTN News observes that, a number of Afrobeats musicians, notably Wizkid and Burna Boy, have made similarities to him.
Street-hop musicians like Portable and Bella Shmurda have openly called themselves “New Fela.”
OTN News further recalls that late last year, rapper Olamide caused a stir when he referred to Wizkid as “the greatest Afrobeats artist after Fela.”
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