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Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: 10 Interesting Facts About The Afro-Beat Legend & Pioneer
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Unknown Facts about Afrobeat Legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti you probably didn’t know
Today the 2nd of August marks the 25th death Anniversary of the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and to pay homage, Mp3bullet.ng compiles some interesting facts about the music legend.
Without a doubt, Legendary Afro-pop Singer Fela Anikulapo Kuti was one of the most influential people in the world during his time.
Not only was he an activist who stood up for what is right, but he also left behind a great deal that people will remember him for.
Although many people may be unaware of the impact he had on millions of people due to the fact that few people had the opportunity to witness his era, he will undoubtedly be missed by everyone who has heard his legendary narrative.
These are some fascinating facts about Fela Kuti that you probably were unaware of.
- Fela Kuti is the first cousin of Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, as well as the brother of Olikoye Ransome Kuti, an ex-minister of health who built Nigeria’s first mental clinic, Aro Abeokuta.
- Fela’s Grandfather, Josiah Ransome-Kuti was Nigeria’s first Gospel minister to record an album. Some of his known songs include the popular Egba Anthem, Ise Agbe, and Eje Ko Omode Wa.
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- Fela’s mother whose name is Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was also a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement and the first woman to drive a vehicle in Nigeria. She influenced her son’s political activism.
- In 1977, Fela Kuti released the album Zombie. It was a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers by using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military and the way, he believed, the soldiers blindly followed orders. In response, the military attacked him and threw his mother out the window of their home.
- Fela started with only one female dancer, Dele who danced solo for the band for many years.
- In 1978, Fela married 27 women in a single wedding ceremony. He would eventually divorce them all. He was briefly listed in the Guinness book of records for the most number of women married at one ceremony- 27, in 1978.
- Fela Kuti was detained in September 1984 as he prepared to board a flight from Lagos to New York for his US tour on suspicion of currency smuggling, which Amnesty International and others criticised as being politically motivated. He was designated as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. This happened during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
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- Fela Kuti was released 20 months after by General Ibrahim Babangida. After regaining his freedom, the Afrobeat legend divorced his 12 remaining wives, after claiming that “marriage brings envy and selfishness”.
- In the 1970s, Fela Kuti built the Kalakuta Republic, a recording studio and a residence for the many people involved with the band that he later declared free from the Nigerian state.
- He was given a brand new Mercedes Benz 280 Limo by his Record company, which he reputedly used regularly in loading up filthy firewood/charcoal used in cooking to feed the masses in his self-styled Republic.
- He was arrested 200 times and endured numerous beatings but continued to write political lyrics, producing albums before he died on August 2, 1997, in Lagos.
- A million people marched with Fela’s Coffin on its final journey to burial in his house