President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, describing the iconic musician as a bold voice of the people and a revolutionary force whose music challenged injustice and transformed the global soundscape.
Tinubu’s Sunday tribute comes as Fela was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy of America, making him the first African to win the honor.
“Fela was more than a musician. He was a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound,” the President said in a statement he personally signed on Sunday.
Tinubu spoke to Fela’s courage, originality, and conviction as distinguishing characteristics that formed a generation and continue to inspire the world.
He mentioned that the Grammy recognition serves as an affirmation of Fela’s enduring global influence and his foundational role in the evolution of Africa’s impact on modern music.
“Fela Kuti has blazed the trail with the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to receive this honor, though posthumously.
“The award is an affirmation of his enduring global influence and the foundational role he has played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music,” the president stated.
The president used Yoruba cultural and spiritual elements to emphasize Fela’s enduring legacy.
“In Yoruba mythology, he has transcended to a higher plane as an Orisa. He is now eternal,” Tinubu said, describing Fela’s immortal place.
Tinubu emphasized Fela’s pioneering role in defining and popularizing Afrobeat, a genre that has become a defining feature of contemporary African music globally.
“He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond. Fela lives,” the president said.
On Sunday, February 1, Fela became the first African musician to earn the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
He received posthumous recognition at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.
The Afrobeat icon, who died in 1997, transformed African music by inventing Afrobeat, a mix of ancient Yoruba rhythms, jazz, funk, and highlife music.
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the Recording Academy’s most prestigious honors, is traditionally bestowed upon performers whose legacies have profoundly influenced the music industry and culture as a whole.
