President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti, describing him as a “fearless voice of the people” and a revolutionary artist whose music challenged injustice and reshaped the global soundscape.
The tribute came on Sunday after Fela was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy, making him the first African musician to receive the honour.
“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,” President Tinubu said in a statement he personally signed.
He highlighted Fela’s courage, creativity, and conviction as defining qualities that influenced a generation and continue to inspire the world. Tinubu noted that the Grammy recognition affirms Fela’s global impact and his foundational role in shaping modern African music.
“Fela Kuti has blazed the trail with the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to receive this honour, 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 added.
Invoking Yoruba cultural and spiritual concepts, Tinubu described Fela’s legacy as eternal. “In Yoruba mythology, he has transcended to a higher plane as an Orisa. He is now eternal,” he said.
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The President also emphasised Fela’s pioneering contribution to Afrobeat, which continues to define contemporary African music worldwide. “He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond. Fela lives,” Tinubu stated.
Fela Kuti, who passed away in 1997, revolutionised African music with his creation of Afrobeat—a dynamic fusion of traditional Yoruba rhythms, jazz, funk, and highlife. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the Recording Academy’s highest honours, recognises artists whose work has profoundly shaped music and culture globally.