October 30, (THEWILL) – Omorinmade Kuti, professionally known as Made Kuti, opened up about his relationship with both his father, Femi Kuti and his grandfather Fela Kuti during an interview with France 24, a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris.
Made Kuti spoke about the relationship between himself and his father, and why he’s happy he’s Femi’s son and not Fela Kuti’s. He said, “I got the best position because I was not Fela’s son.
“I don’t know if I could have survived that. Because Fela was very complex as a father. He didn’t give them priority of being his children. He always even doubts everything in his household. He didn’t even allow them to call him dad or father. Everybody had to call him by his first name. And he treated them equally as he would anybody that came to his house.
“So, I don’t know how I would have taken that. Whereas I had the benefit of learning from him (Fela) and being inspired by his craft and integrity as a grandson, I have the privilege of having an actual, very good father to raise me up and support me in my life. He is definitely my biggest influence, musically and ideologically because he has always managed to find a balance between the struggle, his music, and family.
“And he always took me on tour with him as a child. I missed so many classes. I missed a lot of classes. That was probably why I would fail when I was in primary school.”
