If you haven't be sure to tune into The Africa Channel for superb programming. I've caught Jonathan Butler, Prince and most recently Femi Kuti, eldest son of the legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.
In a Africa Channel exclusive, Femi Kuti shares how he was impressed and blown away seeing one his hero and Father being honored and his story shared with thousands, millions!
I applaud Will Smith and Jay-Z for bringing the critically acclaimed and award winning story of the legendary Afrobeat singer and musician, Fela to Broadway.
Kuti gives a riveting performance taped in Los Angeles and presented by The Africa Channel for your viewing. Check with you Cable Provider for channel listings and visit their website @ www.theafricachannel.com
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Femi Kuti
Biography
Those who have followed his career and have experienced his music know this for a fact:
Femi Kuti never felt just satisfied with being the King's heir. He freed himself from his father's legacy in '85 by putting together his own band, The Positive Force, and thereby working to find his own voice. He became, during the '90s, a renowned artist in his own right with a distinctive, colorful and balanced style. His records tell the story: After a short spell at Motown, he took on the Afrobeat sound with his first international album in 1998 «Shoki Shoki», before rubbing shoulders with the modern urban style of his American peers such as Mos Def and Common on the album «Fight To Win». Returning to Lagos he worked on rebuilding the new Shrine and released an unbelievable live project recorded in the heat of the moment in his own venue («Live at the Shrine», MK2 / 2004). Finally his first studio record only came about in 2008, having found inspiration in Paris. This unanimously celebrated release «Day By Day» was his most successful one.
Femi Kuti never felt just satisfied with being the King's heir. He freed himself from his father's legacy in '85 by putting together his own band, The Positive Force, and thereby working to find his own voice. He became, during the '90s, a renowned artist in his own right with a distinctive, colorful and balanced style. His records tell the story: After a short spell at Motown, he took on the Afrobeat sound with his first international album in 1998 «Shoki Shoki», before rubbing shoulders with the modern urban style of his American peers such as Mos Def and Common on the album «Fight To Win». Returning to Lagos he worked on rebuilding the new Shrine and released an unbelievable live project recorded in the heat of the moment in his own venue («Live at the Shrine», MK2 / 2004). Finally his first studio record only came about in 2008, having found inspiration in Paris. This unanimously celebrated release «Day By Day» was his most successful one.
What was there left for him to accomplish from now on? To complete the cycle, Femi felt he needed to go back to his roots, to the origins of this burning feeling inside him which had fired all his work, and going back to the studio where he had produced his first recordings with his father and his solo album «Shoki Shoki».
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