Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti (born 11 January 1983), popularly known Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, singer and the youngest son of

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

pioneer

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80.

Early life and education

The youngest son of

, Seun Kuti was born in 1983. He became interested in music at the age of five, by the time he turned nine, he had started playing with his father's band, Egypt 80. Following in the footsteps of his father, Kuti pursued his musical education at the

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, cul ...

. During his time there, he became a member of the African Funk ensemble known as River Niger.

Biography

Fela Kuti died in 1997 and Seun Kuti took to the role of leading Egypt 80. In 2008, the band released an album called ''Many Things''. This was the first album released under the moniker ''Seun Kuti & Egypt 80''. He is featured in Calle 13's song ''"Todo se mueve"'' (Everything Moves), on their 2010 album ''Entren los que quieran.'' In 2014, Kuti was given an honorary invitation to perform live for the first time at the Industry Nite. In 2019, Kuti was a featured guest on '' 85 to Africa''; the second album by American rapper Jidenna. In June, Kuti was featured in the Visual Collaborative electronic catalogue, under the ''Polaris'' series, he was interviewed on

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

awareness, his country and music.

Politics

Kuti participated actively in the Occupy Nigeria protests against the fuel subsidy removal policy of President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and ...

in his country Nigeria in January 2012. Seun Kuti is an atheist. In 2019, on Jidenna's ''85 to Africa'' album Kuti voiced an outro of a song with the words:

"I believe it's time for an African peoples powered highway. A highway that will connect the Diaspora and Motherland. A global highway for African people all over the world to rediscover themselves. To remember that the only thing that unites black people, globally, the only thing we all have in common is that we are from Africa".

In November 2020, Kuti led the revival of his father's defunct political party – Movement of the People – with the intention of registering it with Nigeria's electoral body, INEC. In fall 2023, Kuti signed the open letter Artists Against Apartheid in support of

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

Personal life

On December 16, 2013, Kuti and his partner had a daughter. Seunkuti-egypt80

Discography

Released as ''Sean Kuti & Egypt 80'':

Studio albums

*''Many Things'' (CD & LP

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, 2008, Tôt ou Tard, Disorient Records) *''From Africa With Fury: Rise'' (2011, Knitting Factory Records/ Because Music) *''A Long Way to the Beginning'' (2014, Knitting Factory Records) *''Struggle Sounds'' (EP, 2016, Sony Masterworks) *''Black Times'' (CD & LP

, 2018, Strut Records) *''Night Dreamer Direct to Disc Sessions'' (CD & LP, 2019, Night Dreamer Records) *''Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)'' (CD & LP album, 2024, Record Kicks)

Other recordings

*''Think Africa'' ( 12", 2007) *''African Dreams'' EP (2022, with

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, actor and the lead Emcee (hip hop), MC of the hip hop group The Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove in Philadelphia. Regar ...

)

Appearances

*"James Brown" (on the album ''

I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss ''I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss'' is the tenth and final studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor, released on 11 August 2014 on Nettwerk, Nettwerk Music Group. The album was originally to be called ''The Vishnu Room'' after the song ...

'' by

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

) (2014,

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

)

Awards & recognitions

In 2018, ''Black Times'', by Kuti was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in the World Music Category. This makes him the second child of the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti to be considered for this award, as his elder brother

Femi Kuti Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's r ...

has been previously nominated in the same category without a win. In 2019, Kuti was named one of the " 100 Most Influential People" by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' for his music and activism.

References

External links

seunkutimusic.com

Seun Kuti

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
discographies at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Seun Kuti
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Sean Kuti Interview
on

Monocle 24 Monocle Radio (originally launched as ''Monocle 24'') is a mainly speech-based internet radio station, broadcasting from Monocle's headquarters at Midori House in London, England. On weekdays, the station produces three hours of live, current ...

with Georgina Godwin
Seun Kuti
Seun Kuti First Nomination at

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for Best World Music Album {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuti, Seun Living people Nigerian male musicians 1983 births Nigerian world music musicians Ransome-Kuti family Nigerian atheists Yoruba musicians Musicians from Lagos 21st-century Nigerian saxophonists Because Music artists Knitting Factory Records artists Nigerian political music artists