Nigerian Afro-beat maestro, Femi Kuti has revealed that it took him about a decade for people to give him a chance in Nigeria.
The 55-year-old musician made this known in a recent interview. He recounted how he struggled to make a name for himself, despite being Fela’s son.
According to him: “For like a decade nobody wanted to listen to my music. And so I decided to make a name in France, Switzerland, and Germany. Then I broke into America before ‘Wonder Wonder’ became a hit in Nigeria and people wanted to listen to my music. So, it took eight to ten years before people gave me a chance.”
The ‘Wonder Wonder’ star stated that he was never christened “Femi” as his first name was actually “Olufela”.He revealed that his mother changed his name to Femi so as, ”not to be put in the shadow of Fela.” He also explained the steps he took to build his personal brand
Femi who is weary of being compared to his dad, Fela said : “Playing in my father’s band, he took me everywhere. I knew I could never be him. As Fela’s son, I was loved and appreciated but some people always looked at it like a challenge. And I didn’t see that way; all I saw was the man I loved, adored and respected so much. So I didn’t see the competition. But everyone expected, I wanted to be like him and I was constantly being told I couldn’t be like him but it wasn’t my aim. I wanted to find myself in the chaos surrounding me., I can never be Fela Kuti but I can be Femi Kuti”.
My style was closest to that of Brazilian Star Neymar-Okocha