Femi Kuti, eldest son of late Afrobeat king, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has said that his music is not targeted at winning Grammy Awards but for social and political transformation in Nigeria and Africa at large.
Kuti, who has been nominated for Grammy awards four times, said though he understands the politics and how to win Grammy, he chose to deploy his music to speak about political and social issues in Nigeria.
“My career was never built on winning awards. It was based on talking about social and political issues,” Mr Kuti told Beat FM 99.9.
“If my career were built on winning the Grammy’s, I would probably not be based in Nigeria. I would set up somewhere in America and be lobbying for it.
“It’s really political, you must be there, they must see you and you must be fighting for it. I would be working with the best musicians to put a big image of my people out there. If I use big American artistes to distribute my music it is already a Grammy nominated album. The Grammy already knows who I am.”
Kuti said as a musician, his fulfilment will be in a prosperous Nigeria and Africa, adding that no award will bring such satisfaction.
“Most important for me and my career, is, if I can wake up and have electricity forever, if we have good salaries for everybody, pensions are paid, the roads are good, and Africa is a big party where I can drive my car from Lagos to Nairobi, Johannesburg and the place is booming with love, no award can bring me such satisfaction,” Kuti said.
This story first appeared in Peoples Gazette
