Ordinarily, online arguments without basis are non-starters for me. But as journalists, educating the public is at the core of our job. By the time I rest my case on this matter, I expect more articulate culture journalists to hit the keyboard- not to play Afrobeat or Afrobeats, but to logically explain to the new generation of music fans that Fela was not just a musician in his time but a pacesetting provocateur.
So, situating Wizkid and Fela in the same equation is not correct mathematically and historically. Allow me to explain for the umpteenth time.
Pardon me. It needs no explanation, really. Besides, there’s no apologies left for anyone who chooses to live in ignorance of a history that preceded him. Elective Amnesia, I think it’s called. Music fans who had been traumatised by the pains of poverty often equate success to commercial sales. The metrics that some misguided GenZs often use in determining great artists are in numerics: streams, social media followers and sales of concert tickets.
Whereas, Fela belonged to a generation where the internet was non-existent. Hence, there’s no basis for comparing him with Wizkid. Fela used his music for the emancipation of his people like Bob Marley, Nina Simone and Sam Cooke. He was a professionally trained musician who played multiple instruments and an innovator who created an entirely new genre of music named Afrobeat.
Wizkid sings, and doesn’t play any musical instrument. His music is for commercial purposes only. He is inspired by Fela’s music and if Fela was alive, Wizkid would be seated several seats behind Fela’s row at the Grammys. And if the likes of talented musicians like Majek Fashek and Da Grin were still alive, Wizkid might not get a seat, yet.
Fela sells African ideologies through his music and lifestyle but Wizkid wears pieces from a largely westernised wardrobe. Fela is from an elite Yoruba home who committed class suicide in order to internalise the struggles of the common man and be able to seek for better living conditions for his people. Wizkid rose from a humble beginning to pursue the Nigerian dream. He is an inspiration to young people who aspire to break the barriers of poverty to being listed on Forbes list. Fela’s touch with popular music was brief. When his activist mother, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti saw that highlife was a huge commercial music genre, she persuaded him to jump on the trend. He made great music and money. Although the figures were not well documented, it was clear that Fela was one of Africa’s best selling musicians of that period because he caught the attention of EMI Records.
For those who don’t know how big EMI was at the time, the label had on board some of the biggest musicians around the world: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, John Lennon and Yoko Ono and others.
By the time Fela’s music changed from commercial to political propaganda, his status grew and foreign media were on his tail. He was one of the first Nigerian musicians with a feature documentary on BBC. Others are Victor Olaiya also called Evil Genius; Nigeria’s first Grammy Nominee, King Sunny Ade; Afrosoul innovator, Orlando Julius and Babatunde Olatunji.
In the height of his disenchantment with military rule in Nigeria, Fela became an institution. He was designated as a beat in the newsroom: reporters and photojournalists were assigned to cover him. Fela was a front page material throughout his lifetime.
Indeed, Wizkid’s admiration for Late Fela and his music is one of the reasons why he adopted the signature phrase “Everybody say: Yeah Yeah.” Fela was the one who inadvertently paved the way for the new generation of musicians to be recognised by foreign media. The experimental nature of Afrobeat is the same reason why, for the lack of proper nomenclature, the new wave of pop fusion from West Africa was branded Afrobeats by the Western media.
Does Seun Kuti need to defend his father’s name? Yes, he does. His only mistake is to attack WizKid FC. The online cult followership is faceless and never backs down. They are united by the spirit of blind followership and they don’t reason; instead they are constantly defending their beliefs using the power of insults and character assassination.
The only person who should shut down some rude comments from followers online is WizKid himself. And if he doesn’t say anything, his silence is definitely not golden.
_Written by Yinka Olatunbosun, a senior culture journalist and 2018 African Recipient of NRW Kultur Secretariat Grant for Music Journalists.
