Femi Kuti set out from under the shadow of his father to establish himself and his sound. Naturally, people would assume that the public would be excited for another Afrobeat artiste.
The reverse was the case. Femi shares with Netng how the reception was everything but pleasant.
“The first fight was ‘why did you leave your father?’ Don’t forget, my father is this big, unbelievable man—the man of the people. Then me, his first son, leaves. So that fanbase, at least 99% of the fanbase, was totally against me. I also wasn’t doing the things that he was known for doing. I wasn’t womanising or smoking, and these were the things that they probably liked about it.”
“I don’t understand their problem. Even Fela had that problem. He would go on stage and say he doesn’t understand my problem. The backlash was horrible. I mean, I used to have nightmares. It was probably, easily, one of the most horrible, apart from the beatings and the burning of Kalakuta, downsides of my life then.”