Femi Kuti

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Femi Kuti was born in London in 1962 and joined Fela’s Egypt ‘80 in 1978. During the Egypt ‘80 tour of the United States in 1985, Femi stepped out of his father’s shadow. Fela had been arrested at the airport, moments before he was leaving for the tour. Femi took over leadership of the 40-piece band and the show went on, earning Femi rave reviews for his sax work and charismatic stage presence.

The next year Femi created Positive Force and released No Cause for Alarm, a blend of soul, jazz, and funk marked by Femi’s impressive songwriting and sax skills. His live dates received strong notices; many critics noted his compositional and improvisational skills. People stopped comparing Femi to his father as he developed his own unique take on Afro-beat. In 1996 Femi swept Nigeria’s Fame Music Awards winning for Best Producer, Best Cross-over Song, Best Cross-over Music, Best Music, Best Single and Best Artist of the Year.

Fela died in August of 1997. Shortly after, Femi’s younger sister, Sola, a founding member of Positive Force died of cancer, tragedies that led to the composition of “1997,” one of Femi’s signature tunes. Later that year, Femi signed with Barclay/Polygram (MCA/Motown in the US) and released Shoki Shoki, the first album to get simultaneous worldwide release.

Fight To Win (2001) was another worldwide hit. The Positive Force horns gave the album an Afro-beat punch while guests like Mos Def, Common and Money Mark (ex-keyboard player from The Beastie Boys) provided appeal for the American market. To bring the story full circle, Sodi, engineer and producer of Fela’s last seven albums as well as Femi’s Shoki Shoki, produced the set.

When he’s home, Femi performs the weekly “Sunday Jumps” at The Africa Shrine, recreating the high energy in evidence on the Live At The Africa Shrine DVD” and igniting the same frenzy as his father, intently fanning the flames of freedom, justice, brotherhood and the universal groove. He continues to tour extensively in Europe and the United States.

On Live At The Shrine, singer, composer and bandleader Femi Kuti takes Afro-beat