FEMI
KUTI’s 50 BIRTH DAY SHINDIG
What they didn’t tell you
The 18th
June 2012 will surely be unforgettable in the history of the
Anikunapo Kuti family. A family that Seun Kuti has consistently referred to as
the best first class family in Nigeria.
On this day as you already know, the present leader of the family and the
current King of Afro beat Music with three Grammy Award nominations in his CV
turned 50! The New Afrika Shrine was the venue for his half-o- a-century
celebration. The shindig was very colourful as almost all the guests, family and
friends wore the blue and white spotted Aso Oke.
THE
GUESTS: Besides the members of the Ransom Kuti family who were
there, Seun Kuti looked like the happiest person on the night. The music
industry came out en masse to support
a living legend, Femi Kuti a.k.a Baba Made! Present at the New African Shrine
were, Tee Mac, Tuface Idibia, Sound Sultan, Ara, Kenny Ogungbe, ID, Kenny
Saint Brown, Essence, T.W.O, Orits Wiliki, Skillz of JJC, Ayo Animashaun, Weird
MC, Cally Ikpe, Alariwo and some foreign guests. Conspicuously missing
at the event, as usual, was Dede Mabiaku.
PERFORMANCES: Omobaba
the self acclaimed fine boy who has become the official MC of all the events at
the New Afrika Shrine anchored the event. Since it was a musician celebrating,
the event was spiced with a lot of musical performances; a lot of wonderful
bands like Black B band, Ara, Seun Kuti, and surprisingly Made Kuti, Femi’s
first son from his estranged wife, came out smoking hot with a spell binding
performance of a classical music performance which he did on the keyboard. Hip
On TV showed a great documentary on the sax maestro. When it got to
refreshment, there was enough to eat, drink and definitely smoke! Did that make
you go huh? Yeah that is the reality. The icing on the cake was the fascinating
performance of Femi Kuti and his little kids. That should put a smile on your
face. Normally when Femi or Fela performed, you saw female dancers shaking their
bakasi but at 50, Femi came in with something refreshing- his children! It was
glorious watching his kids almost do choroegraph Femi’s dance steps. Whenever
the father chopped knuckles, they followed suit. When he pulled off his shirt,
they pulled off their shirts. When he started dancing and jumping, they did
exactly the same. Femi came on stage to perform just one song but ended up
performing more. Hit songs like Bang Bang, Wonder Wonder, Se Were, Se Were,
drove the already primed audience truly ballistic.
THE
CUTTING OF THE CAKE: All the celebrities present were called up stage
for the cutting of the cake which was designed like a Grammy Award; Tuface
started the happy birthday song which every other artiste joined. Seun Kuti
popped the big Champagne which Femi gulped from and later blamed Seun for turning
him into a drunk.
WHAT
PEOPLE HAD TO SAY :
SEUN
KUTI: When MKO Abiola was arrested, that was
just the arrest before he died, his business crumbled, his Newspaper shut down
but Fela has died and several years later his name has grown bigger and stronger.
His first son, Femi is achieving great things, he has even achieved more than
Fela. I am very happy for my brother Femi and I wish him a very happy birthday.
YENI
KUTI: Femi has come of age, he has been nominated severally at
the Grammies, he has established the new Afrika Shrine, has lovely children. He
has taken the Kuti name to its next level. At 50 he has come of age. I am happy
for him and I wish him more great years ahead.
FEMI
KUTI: I am very happy for today; it’s a great day in my life.
Seeing people from all over Africa and beyond come to the new Afrika Shrine to
celebrate with me and my family is a wonderful experience.
Now
that you are 50, what is next for you?
My mission is not complete yet, we don’t have equal rights
and justice yet, we don’t have free education yet, we don’t have sound and free
medical care yet. What we still have is massive corruption that has been there
since independence so the struggle continues. We must not let the fight against
corruption die. The fuel subsidy fight must not die. The fuel subsidy probe and
all the bribery scandal surrounding it now is all rubbish! These people are
destroying this country, Nigeria is a great country, this country is meant to
be the envy of the world. Your American and British friends will tell you that
you have everything going for you. When they told me that I should relocate to
Los Angeles, I said no! They told me to move to Paris, I thought to myself, see Paris and die! I told
them no place like home. I will die in Lagos!
Talking
about age, at what age will you like to die?
Hhhmmm! People wish me to live up to 100 years and above, I
say no, that’s a curse. My teeth will be gone; I will be shaking with a walking
stick. No, the moment I can’t play my Sax again, the moment I can’t have sex
with my girl friends, I am ready to go and I will come and tell you bye, bye.
ON THE
LOW SIDE:
WHEN
FEMI ESHO GOT DRUNK
Femi Esho, the Nigerian ever green music preservation
crusader and Felabration planning committee member was so excited he got drunk
and displayed it in his drunken master walking steps.
NEW
AFRIKA SHRINE REGULARS COMPLAIN
Getting
to the Shrine that night, fear will grip you because of the large crowd of
hoodlums having their own separate party outside. You wonder why, right? A
little prodding revealed that the management made sure that no one without an
IV got in because of the caliber of people who will be willing to get in. On my
little round check, I spoke to some of the people outside who complained
bitterly of being embarrassed at the entrance. One actually said he spends a
huge chunk of his weekly earning at the Shrine every weekend but was treated
like a common criminal!
