The 2013 edition of Felabration,a week-long concert which celebrates the life and times of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti commences from Monday, October 14 through 20 at the Afrikan Shrine, Ikeja, Lagos. In this interview, Femi Kuti, the eldest son of Fela went down memory lane, recounting the story of his late father, his music and ideologies. He also talks about what the fans of Afrobeat music will expect at this year’s Felabration among other issues.
Felabration
We learnt that Rita Marley will be headlining this year’s Felabration. Why is she not here today?
She sent a message few days ago that she was not feeling fine, and might not make it to the event. However, she will be represented at the festival by the head of her foundation, Rita Marley Foundation.
What’s the financial implication of organising this festival?
*Femi
We have no major sponsors at the moment. Fortunately, most of the artistes are performing for free. We have been very lucky that the likes of King Sunny Ade, D’banj, Wizkid, Pasuma, and many others, have been performing for free. This year, they will grace the stage again. But we usually pay a token to the up and coming artistes as a way of supporting them. However, Nigerian Breweries Plc has promised to come on board next year as a major sponsor of the event. We are hoping that as from next year, Felabration will not be talking about financial difficulties.
What’s new in this year’s Felabration?
I think what will always be new is the enthusiasm of the crowd. The festival runs from Monday through Sunday. It kicked off last Monday with school debate. Wuri Modern College won the competition last year. The Felabration usually kicks off with school debate because we are trying to introduce new things other than music. There will be symposium where the likes of Femi Falana, SAN, will be in attendance. The festival will kick off properly next week Tuesday. It will run till Saturday and closes on Sunday.
Is Bob Marley’s son still going to make it to the festival?
I think he’s having problem with obtaining visa. He has agreed to come and the contract has been finalized. We are waiting for him to obtain his visa. If he succeeds, fine. We are expecting a lot of Afrobeat bands from America, Ghana and other African countries. Our local artistes such as Tuface, Kwam 1, Davido, Wizkid, Eedris and other superstars including myself will be on duty.
Apart from finance, what other challenges are you encountering?
I think the major challenges are finance and security. We would love a situation where we would pay the artistes handsomely and dictate the pace for them. But now, they dictate the pace for us. The artistes decide when and when not to perform on stage. Felabration bends to everybody’s rules. The next thing is to get the museum working. Apparently, Lagos State government has purchased the piece of land beside the museum which we use as car park. But we are still looking for major sponsors that will drive the museum. We have big dreams that we want to put in place.
With this year’s Felabration coming up, would you say you have achieved the dream of setting up the festival?
Definitely. We are all Nigerians and we know what it means to run a festival at that level for 13 years. I think we have to be applauded. It’s a feat that hasn’t been achieved in Nigeria. All the great festivals we know in Nigeria are no longer functioning. We have never heard any security challenges in the past 13 years. With the crowd of over 10,000 people attending the festival, I think we have to be commended. Now, Felabration is observed across the world, especially in major cities of the world. The event my sister, Yeni started has grown big and stronger.
One would have thought that the Fela broadway show would have boosted the festival?
I’m sure you know what it cost them to be in Nigeria then. They are a cast of about 50 people. By the time you talk about their flight tickets, accommodation, and so on, you would know what I mean. I think it was the Lagos State government that sponsored their trip to the country. Eventually, what we are going to be focusing on is discovering new talents and more bands. I will like a situation where we do not have only hip-hop artistes on stage.
Fela’s biopic
*Fela celebrated
Aside Felabration, what is the family’s stand on Fela’s biopic being produced by an American company recently?
I don’t know about it. There are many things I don’t know about. I know that they have been working on the biopic for the past five years.
Andrew Dosumu, a British Nigerian director was chosen to direct the biopic and Nigerian international actor, Chiwenta Ejiofor is being touted to act Fela in the biopic?
It is the same biopic that we are talking about. This is a biopic that has been in the making for about five years now. I’m sure you know it is not the kind of film that you can produce overnight. They have to capture the burning of the house, the soldiers…If they are going to do a movie of that magnitude, it’s going to be a great movie. It is going to take time. They have been talking about this movie for ages now.
Does the family have any plan to do that?
No. We are only going to give them the license to do it. We have a legal team that deals with all of these things. My own duty as a member of the estate is to give the approval. I have signed the contract several years ago and I know, it will take another two to three years before this dream will materialize. I know that the first contract we signed for five years ought to be renewed if they have not completed the production of the film within the time frame.
They started talking about the film when my father died but eventually the contract expired. So, they had to renew a new contract. This is because there is no money in the music business. That’s why the family has been very lenient when discussing with all these people because we all know about piracy. Everybody is downloading Fela’s music, so you have to be very understandable. We have a good legal team that handles all these stuffs for the family. Of course, we have to protect the integrity of the family
Fela and his music
Looking at it holistically, do you feel comfortable that a Nigerian who has practically lived abroad all his life is playing the role of Fela?
I’m sure if they do a movie, it will be great. Now, let us look at the broadway show. Critics say that it was too Americanised. They did not want to show Fela’s story from the Nigerian perspective. They wanted the American and the international market to understand the Fela story. See how Fela was misunderstood even when he went to the United States. It was after his death that people started evaluating his music. What he was doing? He married 27 wives in his lifetime, how dare he? This man was against feminism.? They gave him different kind of names. He was completely misunderstood because he wore pants, he smoked marijuana. He had issues. He had serious issues whether we liked it or not. At his death, people were celebrating him but in his lifetime, he was broke before he died.
What they did was to tell the Fela story for the average international market to watch and understand it. If you did watch them, you would notice that the dancers could not dance the Afrobeat music. For you, the man was speaking American English. But you would have every reason to believe that the Fela you know was not being acted but if you look at it from the neutral perspective like you didn’t know Fela, you would understand the story and even weep for him.
The day I watched it, I cried. I cried because I knew where they were coming from and I saw the audience. Probably, they have not heard about Fela, the Americans were saying, it made them want to listen to his music to know more about Africa. It opened their minds to so many issues. Now, they are studying Afrobeat in many of the schools and universities in America, Germany, France, Sweden, Australia, everywhere. There are over 20 American bands playing Afrobeat at the moment.
-vanguard
July 05, 2018, 01:04:20 PM