Fela Kuti Is Not Their Mate: Why Comparing Afrobeat’s Creator to Its Beneficiaries Is an Intellectual Fraud
In recent years, a troubling narrative has gained traction across social media spaces, fan communities, and even among some musicians: the idea that contemporary Nigerian superstars such as Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido—or any artist riding the modern Afrobeat wave—are somehow greater than Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the very man who created the musical, cultural, and political foundation upon which they now thrive.
This claim is not just appalling; it is historically illiterate, culturally dishonest, and intellectually unserious.
Comparing Fela Kuti to artists who are merely beneficiaries of a genre he invented is like arguing that a tenant is greater than the architect because the building now has better furniture. It ignores history, context, struggle, and legacy. It reduces greatness to streaming numbers and vibes, stripping music of its soul, purpose, and revolutionary weight.
Afrobeat Did Not Evolve by Accident—It Was Invented
Afrobeat is not a vague sound that emerged organically from pop culture. It was deliberately engineered by Fela Kuti in the late 1960s and 1970s, through a sophisticated fusion of traditional Yoruba rhythms, highlife, jazz, funk, and politically charged lyricism.
Fela did not merely “make music.” He built a philosophy, a movement, and a countercultural identity that confronted military dictatorships, colonial mentalities, religious hypocrisy, and economic exploitation in Nigeria and across Africa.
Modern Afrobeat artists operate in an industry Fela carved out with blood, arrests, beatings, exile, censorship, and the destruction of his home—Kalakuta Republic—by Nigerian soldiers. To pretend that today’s artists are “greater” because they enjoy global tours, brand endorsements, and DSP revenue is to forget that Fela paid the price that made such global acceptance possible.
Vibes Without Knowledge Is How History Gets Erased
A major driver of this false equivalence is fan culture—particularly the rise of hyper-fixated fandoms who consume music emotionally but reject historical literacy.
Music fandom without historical awareness is dangerous. It produces loud opinions with shallow foundations. When fans argue that their favorite artist is superior to Fela simply because of numbers, awards, or popularity, they reveal a refusal to study the sights and sounds of time.
Greatness is not measured by algorithms alone.
Fela recorded over 50 albums, many of them banned or censored, yet they endured. His music is still studied in universities across the world today—in departments of musicology, African studies, political science, and post-colonial theory. That level of relevance decades after death is not hype; it is legacy.
Awards, Recognition, and Historical Validation
In 2025, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest recognitions in global music history. This award is not given for chart performance or popularity—it is reserved for artists whose work permanently reshaped the music industry and global culture.
No amount of fan arguments can override that institutional validation.
More importantly, Fela’s influence extends far beyond Nigeria. Global artists across jazz, hip-hop, funk, and soul—from Questlove to Erykah Badu, from Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar—have acknowledged his impact. Afrobeat is now a global export precisely because Fela established its identity as unapologetically African, politically conscious, and musically complex.
Legacy That Transcends Generations
Fela’s greatness is also evident in the durability of his lineage. His children—Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti—are not industry plants or nostalgia acts. They are globally respected musicians, Grammy nominees, and cultural ambassadors who have preserved Afrobeat’s integrity while evolving its sound.
Even more compelling is the deeper historical context: Fela’s grandfather, Rev. Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, was a renowned clergyman, educator, and songwriter whose hymns and folk compositions are still sung in Nigeria today. This was a family deeply rooted in intellectualism, music, activism, and national consciousness long before pop stardom became a business model.
This is not coincidence. This is cultural continuity.
Creation vs Consumption: A Critical Distinction
Modern artists—no matter how talented—are operating within a commercialized ecosystem that Fela never had access to. Streaming platforms, global distribution, brand sponsorships, social media virality, and international PR machinery have amplified reach in ways unimaginable in Fela’s era.
But reach is not the same as revolution.
Fela did not chase acceptance. He challenged power. He refused to dilute his message for radio play. He sang in pidgin English so the masses—not elites—could understand him. He turned music into resistance.
Artists today benefit from the softened global perception of African music that Fela forced into existence through confrontation.
Why “Why Don’t They Create Their Own?” Matters
The question many refuse to confront is simple:
If Afrobeat’s pioneers are so easily dismissed, why haven’t today’s artists created an entirely new genre with equal cultural weight?
The truth is uncomfortable: creating a genre is far harder than monetizing one.
Afrobeat existed before endorsement deals, before global playlists, before Afrobeats became trendy. Fela created it in isolation, opposition, and hostility. Modern artists—no matter how successful—are standing on that foundation.
Acknowledging that does not diminish their success; denying it diminishes intellectual honesty.
Selective Amnesia in the Age of Clout
Public figures who dismiss Fela or equate him unfairly with contemporary stars often expose a broader problem: a culture that prioritizes immediacy over memory, clout over context.
History shapes the future. Those who ignore it repeat ignorance.
It is encouraging, however, that respected influencers, scholars, and cultural commentators have begun pushing back against this revisionism—publicly correcting false narratives and reminding audiences that Afrobeat did not start on streaming platforms.
Conclusion: Fela Is Not a Benchmark—He Is the Blueprint
Fela Anikulapo Kuti is not in competition with anyone alive today. He exists in a different historical category altogether. Comparing him to artists who profit from a genre he invented is not debate—it is distortion.
You can celebrate Wizkid.
You can enjoy Burna Boy.
You can admire Davido.
But if you truly respect Afrobeat, African music, and cultural truth, you must recognize this simple fact:
Fela is not their mate—even in death.
He is the reason the conversation exists at all.
And history, unlike fandom, does not argue—it records.
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