Femi Kuti

Femi Kuti is the oldest son of the late Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti. Fela pioneered the sprawling big band sound called afrobeat. His 45-minute musical tirades against Nigeria's power elite lead to violent confrontations, and in 1984, the government jailed him on a trumped up currency charge. Femi, who had quit school to play alto sax in his father's band back in 1978, stepped up to lead the band for the next two years. In 1986, Fela returned and Femi split off to form his own group, Positive Force. Continuing in the afrobeat tradition, Femi built around a solid, six-piece horn section and two strong percussionists. With guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and four singer/dancers, his band numbered 17. Like Fela, Femi sang about power politics, but with a lighter touch, and in briefer form.
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While Fela was still active and on the scene, Femi was constantly being compared to his father. Femi said in a 1995 interview, "It's like a challenge for me. I know I have a lot to live up to. So if I find that my father works two hours a day, I will work eight hours a day." The work paid off. After an initial period of skepticism, Fela became a fan of his son's music, and Positive Force won a solid following in Nigeria. The band completed six European tours and recorded two albums in Nigeria between 1988 and 1994, and another in Paris in 1995. Then Femi and Positive Force debuted in the U.S. as part of the 1995 Africa Fête tour.