Many wonder how musicians remain relevant for a long time and their music timeless. Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti, sat down with Netng and spoke on how many artistes had forgotten how to stay relevant because of lack of knowledge.
“What makes a musician stay relevant forever? How do you become a Fela? Because he studied. He knew everything about his profession, so Fela will always be relevant. I am not boasting, but you see, whether we like it or not, my music will always go down in history. Somebody right now is playing my album around this world.”
Femi Kuti’s music has reached various parts of the world, and he professed that it surprises even him to see how far his music goes. He said, “I have die-hard fans too that will teach their children about me. They don’t have to be in public. I have people come to me and say, ‘my daughter is learning your tune, and she is using it for her exam.’ Can you imagine? Meanwhile, our people won’t learn my songs, but Europeans are studying my music.”
Femi says that the problem of relevancy stems from artistes these days not dedicating their time to studying the music. He encourages young musicians to work on understanding music.
“At 58, why am I still relevant? Because I’ve gone all out to find, even where my father failed to teach me. Where I knew I was handicapped, or I did not know, I made up for it in other ways. I try to learn new instruments; I still wake up and practice for 6 hours.”