Popular Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti has revealed why he and his siblings decided not to sell Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s music catalogue. He recently had his say while speaking on Channels Television’s Entertainment Tonight, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, the catalogue remains under the control of Fela‘s estate because the eldest child in the family is very protective of the legendary musician’s legacy.
Femi added that he hopes Fela’s grandchildren will keep honouring his legacy long after his children are gone.
His words, “No, we never sold it. So it’s under Fela’s estate, which the family controls, but we licensed the music, so we control it. I don’t know how many more years we have right now, but when the years are done, we’ll take it over and license it again. My elder sister was strongly opposed to our selling it.
She’s like the main caretaker. I think we give her honour as she’s the eldest, so we all listen to her. Not like zombies, of course, but I mean, if we have an objection, we’ll raise it. But she’s very protective of Fela’s legacy. So she insisted we don’t sell. I saw her view immediately.
If we had sold, it would have been done by now. Nothing would be coming to the family. So we can always go to our children in the future. So this is the way we have preserved his legacy as well. So it will always remain in the family’s hands.
And I hope even after us, our children will understand how we maintain dignity and integrity with Fela’s legacy and do that same honour to him after we leave this life.”
WOW.
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