Oct 2025

Mádé Kuti Interview for Ness Radio by DJ Ness Afro

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Ness Radio à rencontré le fils de Femi Kuti, Made Kuti juste avant son unique concert à Paris, le lundi 20 octobre prochain à La Maroquinerie. Il nous fait un cadeau car il vient avec son invitée d’honneur la grande chanteuse Nneka du Nigéria pour nous faire découvrir son nouvel album avec son groupe de Lagos, ‘The Mouvement’
Le petit fils de Fela Kuti nous avait déjà marquer avec son premier album et son hit ‘Free Your Mind’ et avait brillé sur la scène de la philharmonie pour l’exposition de Fela Kuti en 2023.

Ness aka DJ Ness Afro

On October20 you will be performing a Paris exclusive concert at La Maroquinerie, i guess it will be a different show compare to the one you did with Obongjaya at Philharmonie back in 2022., Nneka will be on stage with you ?

Yes! Nneka was so kind to join us for this event. I’ve been a huge fan of her since I was younger so being able to share a stage with her is beautiful for me. For myself and the band it won’t be quite the same as 2022 because that was 3 years ago and myself and my band have evolved since then.

You are clearly taking Afrobeat in a new direction with your second album Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From ?

Yes, this is a very different direction from my debut album. I think I have a responsibility as a composer to continually try to experiment and explore different paths that Afrobeat can take.

‘Oya’ is such a sweet moving tune on your album and a great music video, the lyrics are so powerfull, full of poetry, tell us about this important track.

‘Oya’ was written in 2020 and it was about the ENDSARS protest; where Nigerians were massacred at the Lekki Tollgate. I wrote this song after seeing that tragedy live that day like millions of other Nigerians on my phone and felt so hurt and powerless in that moment that the only thing I felt I could do was translate it into music. Till today the government still deny that it ever happened.

Vidéo Clip

On For(e)ward you played all the instrument, in this new album you worked with your band The Movement, how did you proceed to create it ?

For this one I wrote all the music myself as I did with For(e)ward but this time I performed the songs on stage years before I took them into the studio. This allowed the songs to evolve on stage before I recorded them with the band.

Back in 2022 you got a Grammy nominee medal in recognition of your nomination in the Grammys ‘Best Global Music Album’ category. for the 64th Grammy Awards. « Never Seen » achievement for a first album ?

That album was very special because I played all the instruments myself and also composed it myself and it was a joint album with two seperate parts with my dad and I think that’s the first time a Father & Son have released an album together like this.

You said “The most important thing above anything else is discipline,” is it something you learned from your father Femi or did you discover it yourself to master so many instruments ?

It’s something I learned by watching my Father growing up. He is the most disciplined person I know and it was so inspirational watching him put so much passion into his music.

Would you say that the living conditions for Nigerians has improved or got worst since the Fela Kuti Era ?

Things have definitely gotten much worse. The public sector is in a worse state than it was when he was alive; healthcare is failing, education is failing and the cost of living is ridiculously high compared to the income of the average Nigerian. So it’s sad to see that the state of Nigeria is gradually getting worse.

Retrouvez le au concert

Madé Kuti & Nneka concert unique à La Maroquinerie le 20 Octobre 19h30