Femi Kuti, son of the late singer, Fela Kuti, has claimed that his father didn’t co-pioneer Afrobeat with the late legendary drummer, Tony Allen.
The multiple Grammy-nominated artist stated that Fela was the sole pioneer of the genre and as such, the glory shouldn’t be shared with Allen or anyone.
In a video he shared via his social media page, Femi noted that his late father taught all his instrumentalists their style of playing, including Allen.
Further dismissing the claim, Femi said Fela didn’t admit any contribution from his team when drawing the pattern of his songs because he was always in a trance.
Kuti said, “My father was a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He studied music. He knows every single part of his instrument. You probably have read that they said he said, ‘Without Tony Allen, there is no Afrobeat.’ That is the biggest bullsh*t ever said about my father. It is such a big lie.
“They tried to sell Tony Allen so they decided to lie. Yes, he was a good drummer but Fela taught him his style of drums. Fela came up with all his drum patterns. We saw it.
“I was a child, a teenager, a man, we saw Fela do it. Fela wrote all his patterns. I keep telling them, why didn’t Tony Allen tell us which songs he did for Fela? He couldn’t because there was no song that Fela asked him to put the drum pattern for him. It is impossible.
“When Fela was writing, no one could make any inputs because he goes into trance while making music. Everyone around him them must maintain calmness and listen to his composition and instructions.
“So, I asked those saying Fela credited Allen for Afrobeat where he did and they can’t produce it. There is no article, recording or footage from any interview to prove it. It is impossible that Fela would make such a statement and there is no copy anywhere.”
Allen is widely credited by both local and foreign media as a co-pioneer of Afrobeats for his works as Fela’s lead drummer and music director.
