Femi Kuti says his elder sister opposed selling Fela catalogue

Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti has given an explanation for why, in spite of multiple offers, his family chose not to sell the repertoire of their late father, Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The Grammy-nominated artist revealed in a recent interview with Channels TV that the main motivation was to protect the heritage of the Afrobeat icon.

He highlighted that his older sister, Yeni Kuti, is fiercely protective of the memory of the Afrobeat pioneer and was especially against the sale of Fela catalogue.

However, he pointed out that Fela’s songs was temporarily licensed by the family to a foreign business.

“Fela catalogue was never sold by us. The family is in charge of it under Fela’s estate. However, the music was licensed to us.

Thus, we have power over it. I’m not sure how many years we have left, but once it’s finished, we’ll take over and get a new licence’, Kuti clarified.

Yeni Kuti, my older sister, was adamantly against selling Fela’s catalogue. She resembles the carer. And since she is the oldest of us, we honour her. Naturally, this does not imply that the rest of us have no voice.

However, she urged that we not sell it since she is very protective of Fela’s heritage. We all agreed as soon as I saw her point of view. The family would not have received any royalties if we had sold it,” he continued.

The musician expressed his hope that their offspring would uphold the standard and preserve Fela’s legacy going forward.