Biography
As Fela Kuti's oldest son and the inheritor of his father's artistic mantle, Femi Kuti carried Afrobeat into a new era after Fela's passing. Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (handily shortened to Femi) was born in London, England on June 16, 1962 but grew up on his father's home turf of Lagos, Nigeria. When he was still a teenager, Femi became a sax player, and eventually began playing with his father. He appearing on Fela's albums starting in 1980, playing on Coffin for Head of State, Authority Stealing, and many others over the years. By the late '80s, Femi was working with an ensemble of his own, called Positive Force. In 1995, he released his first, self-titled solo album, and his mastery of the Afrobeat style that his father had forged was immediately apparent, earning him audience around the world. After his father's death in 1997, the focus on Femi as the inheritor of the Afrobeat crown intensified. Femi released his second album, Shoki Shoki, in 1998. In 2001 his third album, Fight to Win, brought Kuti an even bigger audience due to the participation of hip-hop heroes Common and Mos Def. Femi honored his father's legacy further in 2004 by opening a venue called The Shrine in Nigeria, named after the one that had been Fela's home base. Femi released a live album recorded at the new venue, Africa Shrine, that same year. In 2008 Kuti returned with the Day by Day album. In 2015, after a couple more albums, Femi participated in an event that extended the Kuti family legacy still further, performing in concert for the first time with his younger brother Seun Kuti, who had begun leading his father's old band, Egypt 80, after Fela's death.
