Seun Kuti, the famous Grammy-nominated Afrobeat musician, has made a bold claim about the Egypt 80 band, the band which he inherited from Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, his late father and Afrobeat pioneer.
In a recent interview with City 105.1 FM, Kuti claimed that Egypt 80 is Africa’s most successful band, boasting about his important position in society as the frontman of the band.
He said he shares his opinions freely without fear because he can’t be threatened by culture, adding that the media and African award organizers were already overlooking his music.
Kuti said, “I won’t stop speaking my mind because I’m no longer afraid of anything you’re going to do. What are you going to do? You’re not going to play my videos? Are you not already doing this? So what are you going to do?
“Even when I got nominated for the Grammys, no award organization in the whole of Africa nominated my band in any category, knowing fully well that no matter what anybody says about me, I, Seun, am the frontman for Africa’s most successful band. 54 albums. By the time I drop my next album, it will be 55 albums.
“The band that I lead is an African musical institution. If we knew what we were doing in Africa, it would go without saying that this band should be given some kind of national recognition to keep them in the forefront of the psyche of African people all over the world, to know that Africans can achieve institutions like this. But well, that is for an African who knows what he’s doing.”