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The eldest son of the late father of Afrobeat Fela Anikulapo Kuti embarks on a new world tour that will take him to the MTelus on Thursday night to inaugurate the 32nd Montreal International Nights of Africa Festival. But right now, he does not have the mind to pack his bags. Our conversation is chaotic: it comes alive at the end of the line, we think we recognize the voice of his manager who settles last-minute details. There is also some nervousness in the voice, usually soft even when his lyrics are vindictive, the author, composer, singer and saxophonist Femi Kuti. And for good reason: in a few minutes, he will host Emmanuel Macron.
For the President of the French Republic, this visit last Tuesday in Lagos, capital of Nigeria, gave him the opportunity to announce in great pump Season of African cultures to be held in France in 2020. It was one of the last stops of his brief stay on the continent, after having taken part in the summit of the African Union in Mauritania the weekend last.
The mythical The Shrine
However, for Nigeria, this visit has a special symbolic importance: in a few minutes, Emmanuel Macron will become the first head of state to visit the mythical The Shrine, this nightclub and concert hall founded in 1970 by Fela Kuti. He had made it his headquarters, the basis of his activism and, above all, the laboratory where funk, high-life, jazz and traditional rhythms united to become afrobeat. In 1977, the original room was burned down, like its house, its studio and its popular clinic, by the military after the publication of the album punch-fist Zombie, which aimed precisely the power and its armed branch. His own mother, the activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was even defeated during the attack; she died a few weeks later, at the age of 77.
Rebuilt and renamed New Afrika Shrine, the cultural institution is now administered by Femi, who will give in a few moments a performance for the French president. "If I think I'll get President Macron dancing?" That, we'll see! There will be music, but also speeches, meetings, anything can happen! Says Femi Kuti laughing. The question seems to have relaxed him a bit, on this highly ceremonial day – for the record, yes, Macron danced, without jacket or tie. No one, nor even the powerful, can resist the power of the Afrobeat.
"For us, the visit of President Macron is very important, adds Femi Kuti. This is a sign of a better future for Africa, for Shrine, for all that we fight for, the fight against corruption … It is also an opportunity for us to show the world the wealth of our culture. All of this is a step in the right direction.
Femi Kuti will probably not miss the opportunity to discuss politics with the president. In Kuti, music always rhymes with militancy. And then, after all, "I think the president knows our music," says Femi Kuti. The Kuti family has long had a special relationship with France: this is where Femi's father launched his first European tour in the early 1980s. It's also in Paris that Femi recorded One People One World his most recent album, released last February on the label Knitting Factory Records.
"My Best Album"
From pure Afrobeat juice to the choice of Tracks: Africa Will Be Great Again Best to Live on the Good Side Equal Opportunity Dem Militarize Democracy … "My best album in my career," says the musician. It's thanks to my age, I'm 56, "two years younger than his father on the day of his death in 1997." It's the best thanks to the experience I've gained. This record represents who I am at this moment of my life. I think my message and my way of writing songs are more mature today.
Not to mention a homecoming, let's emphasize in the musical style of this good album a form of exploration of the different musical influences that shaped the Afrobeat, while each song seems to have its color more distinct, sometimes more funk, sometimes for R & B, sometimes more reggae, and always paying tribute to the popular dance music of Africa. Traditional, in this sense: Femi does not yield to the song of the sirens of rap, global phenomenon and new mode of expression of the young musicians of Nigeria. "I like their texts; I only wish they could learn to play their own instruments … "comments Femi Kuti, who was one of the judges of the third season of the popular reality series Nigerian Idol.
On stage at MTelus on Thursday, Femi will be accompanied by the twelve musicians of his Positive Force orchestra. And you'll dance like a president.
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