Fela Anikulapo Kuti was honored by President Bola Tinubu, who described the renowned singer as a bold voice of the people and a revolutionary force whose music challenged injustice and changed the world’s sound.
Tinubu’s tribute on Sunday coincided with Fela becoming the first African to earn the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to him posthumously by the Recording Academy of America.
“Fela was not just a musician. He was a bold voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music battled injustice and transformed world sound,” the President said in a statement he personally signed on Sunday.
According to Tinubu, Fela’s bravery, inventiveness, and conviction were distinguishing traits that influenced a generation and still motivate people today.
He remarked that the Grammy award serves as an acknowledgment of Fela’s lasting global significance and his essential role in the growth of Africa’s impact on modern music.
“Fela Kuti has blazed the trail with the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to receive this honour, though posthumously.
“The award is an affirmation of his enduring global influence and the foundational role he has played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music,” the President added.
The President evoked Yoruba cultural and spiritual elements to underline Fela’s continuing significance.
According to Yoruba mythology, he is an Orisa who has ascended to a higher dimension. Tinubu described Fela’s eternal status by saying, “He is now eternal.”
Tinubu emphasized Fela’s groundbreaking contribution to the definition and popularization of Afrobeat, a genre that has come to define modern African music on a global scale.
“You can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians as well as in Afrobeats and beyond. He defined Afrobeat.”
“Fela lives,” the President remarked.
On Sunday, February 1, Fela became the first African musician to earn the prestigious Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, he received posthumous honors.
The Afrobeat icon, who died in 1997, transformed African music with his conception of Afrobeat, a mix of ancient Yoruba rhythms, jazz, funk, and highlife music.
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the Recording Academy’s most distinguished honors, is traditionally granted to performers whose legacies have substantially affected the music industry and culture at large.
