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Femi Kuti: “Sharing our cultures”

Twenty years have passed since Shoki Shoki Femi Kuti’s first international album. One People One World was released in 2018 at Knitting factory. The leader of the Positive Force has more than ever a sharp geopolitical point of view, in particular on the crisis in northern Nigeria. We met him where Shoki Shoki started: at the Zarma studio in Paris at Sodi, his faithful artistic director of Femi.

How does it feel to be in this studio where a lot of things have been created? (Sodi recorded the first rap compilation there Rappatitude, Victor Démé, the Green Negresses, Saul Williams … Editor’s note)

Femi Kuti: Zarma studio is so special to me. It’s part of the story of my life. I’ve been coming here since 1996 to work on each of my albums. It’s more than a house. It’s like a Shrine.

Exactly, what becomes of the Shrine in Lagos, this legendary club created by Fela in 1970 and rehabilitated by you and your sister Yemi?

I worked hard with my sister to keep this place alive. We have our Felabration festival there. We are the biggest dance hall in Nigeria. I play it twice a week. It has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in Lagos State. In the last five or six years, Lagos State has finally accepted it. But that’s only due to the tireless work that went into keeping this place open at all times.

For a long time, with your father Fela’s fight against the Nigerian military and authorities, his Kalakuta Republic and the Shrine were blacklisted?

We had to be very tactical. Since the days of my father, we have learned how to maneuver. The last time we had a big hiatus was in 2008. I was on tour and every time I was interviewed in the media I brought up the Shrine. This is the last time the government has closed this place. There have been little to no problems since.

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On the eponymous title One People One World, you talk about exchange of experiences. Is this the result of years of touring around the world?

The solution is to share our cultures. It is the meaning of life. When I am in France, I ask the French to tell me about the history of the Bastille or the Republic. We must learn to live together to make this planet a better place. I chose this title One People One World because I realized one day that we are just a people living on the same planet.

Does the song “Africa Will Be Great Again” have a connection with the “Make America great again” of Donald Trump’s campaign? (launched by Ronald Reagan in the 80s, Editor’s note)?

I wrote this song three and a half years ago. It has nothing to do with Trump. I do not interfere in policies that I do not fully understand. Before I talk about American home affairs, I must be 100% sure that I have all the elements. There is nothing worse than being misinformed, especially on social media where the facts are distorted. When American politics exploit Africa, I talk about it because it touches me. When Donald Trump says I’m an asshole … (1) I have to answer. Before making a comment like that, he had better understand the atrocities and crimes committed by America. Some Africans, who do not understand the facts, agree with Trump’s words. They are those who are ashamed to accept or to be identified with their History. How can you have 400 years of slavery and blame yourself? Because you are taught that you are at fault: “You sold yourself! Africa was the cause of slavery! Colonialism rules our African presidents. Why are they so bad? The answer is simple. These are puppets handled by Europe and the United States. Europe has always set up regimes in order to seize natural resources. The most spectacular example is the Congo. The Belgians killed Lumumba. In your cell phone battery, there is coltan that is exploited in Congo. Who supplies Africans with ammunition and bombs? Europe. There is no arms factory in Africa.

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