Maverick Femi Kuti Hits 60

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

Some fortnight before he embarked on his 7-week American tour with his son Made, Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti, who’s sixtieth birthday was last Wednesday had received a rare saxophone as surprise birthday gift. The gift (valued at over €8000) was presented to him during a live performance show with Made, which is their first-ever joint concert, tagged ‘Father & Son: The Experience’.

The Selmer Paris Alto Supreme 2022 Saxophone acquired by a committee of family and friends, led by Made, and Femi’s sister, Yeni commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first Selmer saxophone manufactured in 1922. Such was the order the scion of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s musical dynasty, the maverick Femi Kuti  was welcomed into his 60’s and wished all the best in the rest of his journey.

According to Yeni, who is barely a year older than Femi, the family decided to celebrate the singer because “he always puts others before him and is very hard working.”

On his part, Made said: “We planned the surprise because we all wanted to do something special for my dad. He didn’t even believe there was a superior version of the Selmer saxophone until I showed him at the Selmer Alto Supreme 2022.

“I knew he wanted it but he said he can’t afford it because he has school fees to pay for my brothers and sisters and other responsibilities. That’s why we eventually all agreed on the sax.”

Born in London to Fela and Remi Ransome-Kuti, Femi grew up in Lagos. In 1977, however, Femi chose to move in with his father and eventually became a member of his father’s band.  Like his father, Femi has made commitments to social and political causes throughout his career.

In 1986, the man fondly called Shoki started his own band, Positive Force, establishing himself as an artiste independent of his father’s legacy. He started playing the saxophone and keyboard with his father’s band when he was between 15/16 and stepped into the spotlight, writing and singing after his father’s demise.

Femi was an exciting, terrific and hybrid energetic young musician. Though Femi fronted the Egypt 80 Band while Fela was serving his jail sentence, Femi also decided that those moments were privileged periods to create his own pathways. Therefore, he formed his own band within the Egypt 80 called The Positive Force. 

Those days, he wrote songs and rehearsed his new compositions, along with his best friend and roommate, keyboardist, Dele Sosimi.