ITV Femi Kuti and Made Kuti

‘We are here to be educated.’

Nigerian musicians Femi Kuti and Made Kuti combine afrobeat, funk, jazz, rock, reggae and other genres into a unique blend of rhythms and sounds. Femi has left his professional mark on music for over forty years now, and his son Made debuted in 2020 with the excellent single ‘Free Your Mind’. Together, they have joined forces and released the double album ‘Legacy+’ – an effective combination of Femi’s ‘Stop the Hate’ and Made’s ‘For(e)ward’. We sat down with both friendly gentlemen in March of 2022 (via Zoom) to ask them who had the initial idea to combine the two albums and create ‘Legacy+’.

Photo credit: ©Optimus Dammy

Photo credit: ©Sean Thomas

Made Kuti: ‘The idea was my dad’s. We had two separate albums and we were working separately and independently. We realized that we were going to be releasing it at roughly the same time. My dad came up with the idea of potentially releasing a duo album, as father and son. Everyone in our inner circle was quite shocked. ‘What’s that, it has never been done before? How are the logistics going to work?’ The idea was so powerful to us, we just wanted to make it work without worrying about presenting it on streaming platforms or whatnot. It was such a special way to enter the industry with my first album, being supported by the person I respect the most and who has given me the opportunity to be in this industry. It's something that I’ll always remember and appreciate.’

Julian De Backer: ‘‘Free Your Mind’ has a cool video with visuals, images and drawings all coming together. Did you come up with the concept?’

Made: ‘It’s a collaboration: my brother Dami, London-based director Olly Frostie, my dad and album producer Sodi Marciszewer. A lot of people came together to conceptualize the visuals for ‘Free Your Mind’. The song itself was inspired by my dad’s composition ‘Set Your Minds and Souls Free’, which is very much about liberating the mind and breaking down false constructs of education or any kind of wrong upbringing put on a child. The video is very much about conveying messages that could all be connected in some way.’

Julian: ‘You guys are musicians 24/7. Are you still able to set your minds and souls free, or are you always busy creating and writing songs?’

Made: ‘The process of creativity is my way of setting my mind and soul free. My dad and I do make music that is relevant to us. I don’t want to say it’s conscious music, because that falls into a very wide bracket. But the things that concern us, concern us on an individual and on a societal level - in terms of what we experience on a daily basis. Friends, stories, our children: everything that we experience as people in the country. By making the one thing that we spend hours and hours of our life developing – our art form – we make sure that we communicate what we care about. Not just saying that this is what we’re experiencing, but also trying to offer ways of solving problems, ways of thoughts, ways to progress. That’s my method of setting my mind and my soul free.’

Julian: ‘It must be hard to always keep that in mind. To never really have a peace of mind.’

Femi Kuti: ‘Are we supposed to have a peaceful mind in this life? (laughs) I think we are here to be educated. Even as musicians, we are to understand that we are mediums that higher forces use to pass this message. Even when I write my songs, I learn. I’m teaching myself. I’m not just talking to an audience, I’m talking to myself. I remind myself to abide by the rules of the information that I get through my practice, my time and while I’m on stage. We are here to learn. As a musician, you must understand you are not the teacher. Life is the teacher. You, the artist, are the student. You have to keep practicing your instruments. You are learning all the time. Even at my age, I still have to wake up to practice every day.’

Made: ‘Also, to elaborate on the meaning of my dad’s song and my song ‘Free Your Mind’: it’s not actually about finding peace of mind, it’s about actively fighting against misinformation. Educating yourself is asking the right questions. I don’t think any true process of freeing your mind is absolutely relaxing. It’s a real battle against forces that are contrary to the kind of progress that a lot of us wish for.’

Julian: ‘Do you hear music in your head all the time, or can you turn it off?’

Made: ‘I hear music all the time, yes. At least, so far. I have never been able to turn it off. When I go through my voice memos on every phone I have ever had, it’s endless. The ideas are always there. Sometimes I have ideas, sometimes I develop them, sometimes they are too far back in the archive and I never get to them anymore. But yeah. It’s a blessing, like my dad said. Almost as if we are mediums that forces use to communicate ideas, melodies and sounds.’

Julian: ‘So we can expect a lot more songs in the future?’

Made: ‘About fifty times more, yeah (laughs). I wrote an entire album before the release of ‘Legacy+’, and not a single one ended up on ‘Legacy+’. There’s always songs.’

Julian: ‘Mr. Femi, I read on your Twitter that you played a three hour show with one hour of 'jara'. What does the word 'jara' mean?’

Femi: ‘I was supposed to play for two hours, and I gave them one hour extra. ‘Jara’ is ‘extra’. Something you add to something.’

Made: ‘As a favor. ‘Jara’ is a favor.’

Julian: ‘Can I also ask what 'Na Bigmanism' means, in the song ‘Na Bigmanism Spoil Government’?’

Femi: ‘‘Bigmanism’ is, well, help me out, Made.’

Made: ‘Sort of egotistical. Having traits of someone that’s very egotistic and arrogant.’

Femi: ‘Arrogant, indeed.’

Made: ‘Someone who believes that possessions define how good you are as a person. Having the biggest car and the biggest house. ‘Bigmanism’ is chasing after the wrong things.’

Julian: ‘Mr. Made, you have a song called ‘Your Enemy’. You and your father make beautiful music, so I would hope you guys only have fans and no enemies. But I'm sure I'm being naive now.’

Made (laughs): ‘Everybody has enemies, I think. Sometimes it’s sourced from misinformation, from not knowing what we represent. Things need to be discussed as they are, as they have happened. Because of social media, we now have our own voices to share. In the past, a journalist could write something forcefully negative about anyone of us and the majority of the public would expect it to be the truth. They have written a lot of lies about my father. Because we stand against a structure that is designed to oppress and we fight for ideas of liberty and freedom of thought, there will always be people that profit from oppression and that will not stand with us on that kind of struggle. Enemies will always be there, but I don’t see them as enemies. I see them as people that need to be rescued.’

Julian: ‘Your music can be a rescue, because it’s liberating. It connects the people.’

Made: ‘That’s definitely what my dad does every single week at his shows.’

Julian: ‘Mr. Made, you play trumpet, alto, sax, piano and drums. Do you have a favorite instrument?’

Made: ‘No. Every instrument on my album was played by myself. Every time I tried to communicate an idea to an instrument, I enjoyed it just as much as the other instrument. Each one serves a very specific purpose in the song, and not one is more important than the other. I always felt so comfortable evoking the kinds of sounds I wanted to come out everything. Being in the studio was stressful because the equipment is so sensitive, but it was still a very nice process. I don’t have a favorite.’

Julian: ‘Mr. Femi, you’ve been writing and playing music for almost fifty years now.’

Femi: ‘Not that long (laughs). Forty-three years!’

Julian: ‘How do you start a song? Is it a phrase, a word, an idea, a melody?’

Femi: ‘Mostly a melody, a rhythm or a pattern, and then I build it from there. Most songs I dream about, I will hear a melody in my sleep. I then try to wake up quickly and write it down, and expand it when I’m awake the next morning. Or I’ll find myself somewhere and I hear spiritual or angelical music, and get inspired. That was the case for my song ‘Beng Beng Beng’. Another song, ‘No Place for my Dream’, went straight to my head. When I’m practicing my skills, I will hear the right foundation for a song. Next, I will start to put the bass, rhythm guitar, drums et cetera in place. I’d say 80% of the time, I think of the music first. And then I will try to think of a topic that will fit the music. The other way around – get a topic, and build the music around it – is more difficult for me.’

Julian: ‘You have something next to your bed, to write down ideas?’

Femi: ‘In the beginning, it was a cassette player, now I have my phone. I have done so much already, I have made eleven albums. It gives me great joy to listen to my son. I’m working on my trumpet skills. I want to get to the point where I can just sit down and do something completely different. I want to go to another level, but I still don’t know what or where that level is. I’d hate to become monotonous or stagnant, I have to keep on developing. With ‘Legacy+’, I have reached a peak of where I am. Do I want to go to somewhere more peaceful? More vibrant? It’s a dilemma right now. I’d like to go somewhere more peaceful, and record more bluesy tracks. I don’t know if I’m ready to go down that path yet. Should I just do one more very vibrant album? I can’t make up my mind. Then I go to my son’s concerts, and I’m enjoying what he’s doing. Should I even retire?’

Julian: ‘No, please don’t!’

Femi: ‘So much is happening and going on in my head. I’m sure I’ll make up my mind soon.’

Julian: ‘As long as you still have it in you, please continue with the vibrant songs. There’s always time for peaceful tracks when you’re really old. Right now, you still have the energy. You can keep up with the best of them.’

Femi: ‘Haha, okay.’

Made: ‘I support that.’

Julian: 'Mr. Made, your song ‘Young Lady' sounds like the perfect combination of afrobeat and a European ballad, a love song. It’s a very effective mix. Do you remember how the song's production and writing progressed?’

Made: ‘I really wanted to experiment with that song, which is why it ended up as one of the longest on the record. I did a bunch of things that I thought were different, I made a structure that was both consistent and inconsistent at the same time. The beginning is in odd time signature, in 7/4, and it changes at the end. Harmonically, I wanted it to sound pretty. The song’s message is about the abuse of women in the Nigerian city of Lagos, and how they fight that abuse to eventually understand their self-worth and find success from it. Because the message was so raw, I wanted the music to stand up to that message. The harmonic progression needed to sound nice, not harsh. Like taking a bitter pill with a sweet drink. I wanted the end to be the outburst of what I felt about the message in the song. I really let myself go with an intense solo. I’m really influenced by all kinds of music. More and more, it comes out in my songs. I’m exploring the music of the world without any particular confines or limitations. As far as I can stretch it out, I will.’

Julian: ‘Music should have no limitations, that is the power of music.’

Made: ‘Exactly, yeah.’

Julian: ‘Thank you both for your time, your generous answers and insights into your songwriting.’

Femi: ‘You’re welcome.’

Made: ‘Thank you, have a lovely day.’

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