“𝐈𝐟 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐊𝐮𝐭𝐢 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐦” – 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐲
The late afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti, would likely face criticism and calls for his imprisonment if he were alive today, according to Grammy-winning Nigerian musician Burna Boy.
The grandson of Fela Kuti’s original manager, Benson Idonjie, Burna Boy, recently discussed his viewpoint in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in New York.
He emphasised that Fela Kuti’s experiences during his period were distinct from what musicians would face today, while acknowledging that the contemporary era has particular dynamics.
The singer expressed thanks for the circumstances of that time, which allowed Fela Kuti to use his music to transmit his profound words, as she thought back on the significance of the period in which he lived.
Burna Boy maintains that Fela Kuti’s influence was made possible by the unique circumstances of his time, which allowed him to express his conscious creativity, highlighting the fact that spirituality was more prevalent in earlier times.
He also asserted that ignorance and stupidity predominate in today’s society, although they did not at the time of Fela Kuti.
Burna Boy expressed gratitude that Fela Kuti lived during a time when it was possible for people to understand the true significance of his ideas, values, and the profound messages he delivered via his music.
He stated
Quote:. “𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑦. 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑎 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑁𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑎, 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑎 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑇𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛.
“𝑆𝑜, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤.
“𝐼𝑓 ℎ𝑒 [𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑎] 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤, ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 [ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦] 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑠. 𝑅𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡.
“𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝑖𝑡 [𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦] 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 [𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑎’𝑠 𝑒𝑟𝑎] 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 [𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦]. 𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒.
“𝐼’𝑚 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 [𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑎] 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠.”
