Afrobeat and Jazz super star, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, is taking time off music for a humanitarian work in the Internally Displaced Persons camps in Adamawa State.
Kuti, tweeted on his Twitter handle on Tuesday, @femiakuti: “Off to Adamawa to continue my humanitarian work with the IRC in the IDP camps.”
He had embarked on similar visit in January to Maiduguri, Borno State as part of efforts to put smile on the faces of the IDP’s especially children, in collaboration with the International Red Cross.
For a very long time, Kuti had been using music to inspire, change and motivate African people and like his father, Fela, he had shown strong commitment to social and political causes in his career.
He was born Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti, but popularly known as Femi Kuti, on June 16, 1962 in London, United Kingdom and raised in Lagos.
He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti, and a grandchild of a political campaigner, women’s rights activist and traditional aristocrat, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
Kuti’s musical career started when he began playing in his father’s band, Egypt 80.
In 1986, he started his own band, Positive Force, and began establishing himself as an artist, independent of his father’s massive legacy.
His international career began in 1988 when he was invited by the French Cultural Centre in Lagos and Christian Mousset to perform at the Festival ‘d’Angoulême’ in France, the New Morning Club in Parish and the Moers Festival in Germany.
His first record, Femi Kuti, was released in 1995 by Tabu/Motown, followed four years later by ‘Shoki Shoki’ by Barclay/Polygram/Fontana MCA.
In 2001 he collaborated with Common, Mos Def and Jaguar Wright on his album, Fight to Win, an effort to cross over to a mainstream audience, and started touring the United States with Jane’s Addiction.
In 2002, his mother, who had played an influential role in his life, died at the age of 60.
In 2004 he opened ‘The Shrine’, his club, where he recorded the live album ‘Africa Shrine’.
After a 4-year absence, he re-emerged in 2008 with ‘Day by Day’ and ‘Africa for Africa’ in 2010.
In 2012, the Grammy nominee was inducted into the Headies Hall of Fame (the most prestigious music awards in Nigeria) and also became an Ambassador for Amnesty International.
Kuti continued to expand the diversity of his artistry on his 2013 album, No Place for My Dream.
Kuti was a judge on Nigeria’s huge TV show Nigerian Idol Season 3.
He has been nominated for a Grammy Award four times in the World Music category in 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2013 but has never won.
On December 19, 2014 a management deal between Chocolate City Music Group and Femi was reached.
He had collaborated with top Nigerian music stars like Tuface, Sound Sultan, Wizkid, Durella and Eedris Abdul Kareem.
NAN.
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