Seun Kuti On The Roots, Touring The U.S., Father Fela’s Legacy, FIFA, Future Plans & More

The youngest son of visionary Fela Kuti, Seun Kuti has continued the family tradition of fusing music and politics into something transcendent. He started opening for his dad at age nine and joined Egypt 80 before he was 12 years of age. He assumed leadership of the band following his father’s passing in 1997 and has led the group ever since; Kuti performs his father’s compositions with his own twists, digging deep into to the seminal Afrobeat canon and various African traditions and cultures.

In 2011, Seun Kuti recorded From Africa With Fury: Rise, his first album for Knitting Factory Records. Co-produced by Brian Eno and John Reynolds, this live set proved to be his breakthrough and landed on both Billboard and digital international charts. His latest record, Black Times, received a GRAMMY nomination in 2018, and he joined Knitting Factory Management’s artist roster in March 2021. As of late, Kuti & Egypt 80 have been touring the globe, and that touring recently hit New York’s Sony Hall.

On September 19, 2022, I had the pleasure of speaking with Seun Kuti via Zoom, as embedded below. We briefly spoke about the new single “Kuku Kee Me (Remix)” — an official soundtrack selection for FIFA 23 — with that conversation. More on Kuti can be found online by clicking here, here and here.

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Tags: Afrobeat, Black Thought, Brian Eno, Fela Kuti, Knitting Factory Records, Nigeria, Seun Kuti, The Roots

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."