It's Time

Youngest son of the legendary Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and activist Fela Kuti, Seun Kuti “inherited” his father's 16-piece band, Egypt 80, in 1997, when he was just 14, on Fela's death. Over the ensuing 17 years, Seun has steadily built on his father's legacy while putting his own stamp on the musical style Fela created – Afrobeat, a heady, highly percussive mix of Nigerian traditional Yoruba music, jazz, Ghanaian highlife and funk. The third album, A Long Way To The Beginning, from Kuti and his cross-generational band will be released here in May.

“It was a title that came from a time of looking back. It's always good to look back at where you're coming from to see how far you've come, and also reassess your journey. Who could believe that the band is still here, 17 years after [Fela's] death? I believe that this is a new beginning for us as well, after our first two albums, where we repositioned ourselves in a place where we can be considered as a force on our own now, even without the greatness of my dad. It took us a long time to get here. And I also believe for the continent of Africa that this is our time – this generation is the beginning of change, this generation that understands most. Most people don't [know] that only 200 Africans were educated when Africa got independence in 1960 [Nigeria gained independence that year] – so we only had 200 graduates to control the whole continent, so you can understand why our people could be easily hoodwinked. People couldn't understand the system they were asked to run. But I believe with this generation, even though only ten per cent of us are educated up to secondary school level, this is the most educated Africa has ever been. This is a beginning for us, and this beginning, I also wanted to reflect it in my message. So there are two meanings, or two different moments in my life and my ideology, in terms of me and the band, and Africa as a whole.”

The new album inevitably continues Kuti's virulent criticism of the impact of the world's multinationals and the geopolitical bodies established to further the West's post-WWII idea of international stability touched upon on 2011's From Africa With Fury: Rise. So the song, IMF, becomes a chant against the International Monetary Fund, recast as International Mother Fuckers. “Don't forget to always let people know that they're impacting negatively, to exploit and destroy. All the topics on the record, they are perspectives, convictions I had. I've never felt like I needed to say as much as I have on this record, even on [album track] Higher Consciousness, where I go deep into the brainwashing of the young African mind with the nonsense on our radio, on our TV, teaching young black people negativity about Africa. Every young kid in Africa wants to be white!”