1. Femi Kuti is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
16 Facts About Femi Kuti
1. 2.
Femi Kuti began his musical career playing in his father's band, Egypt 80.
3.
In 1986, Femi started his own band, Positive Force, establishing himself as an artist independent of his father's legacy.
4.
Femi Anikulapo Kuti was born in London to Fela and Remilekun Ransome-Kuti, and grew up in the former Nigerian capital, Lagos.
5.
In 1977 Femi Kuti chose to move in with his father.
6.
Femi Kuti started playing the saxophone at the age of 15 and eventually became a member of his father's band.
7.
Femi Kuti created his own band, Positive Force, in the late 1980s with Dele Sosimi, former keyboard player of Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
8.
In 2000, Femi Kuti joined in a duet on the track "Ala Jalkoum" on the Rachid Taha album Made in Medina.
9.
In 2001, Femi Kuti collaborated on his album Fight to Win with a number of US musicians, including Common, Mos Def, and Jaguar Wright.
10.
Femi Kuti's voice is featured in the videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, where he is the host of radio station IF 99.
11.
Femi Kuti has been nominated for a Grammy Award four times in the world music category in 2003,2010,2012 and 2013 but has never won.
12.
Femi Kuti started playing the saxophone and keyboard with his father's band when he was 16 and stepped into the spotlight, writing and singing after his father's demise.
13.
Femi Kuti remains politically inclined grooving to high energy funk, jazz and traditional African-fueled songs about political corruption, poverty and primitive living conditions suffered by most inhabitants in Nigeria's oil-rich nation.
14.
Femi Kuti's song "Make We Remember" calls on people to remember the words of his father and "great black people", who fought for the emancipation of Africa.
15.
Femi Kuti was nominated four times in the Best World Music Album category.
16.
On October 20,2022, Femi Kuti was awarded as a Chevalier des arts et des lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in Paris.