Afrobeat goes on as Seun Kuti brings father's sound to Cork jazz fest
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 will play two gigs at the Guinnes Cork Jazz Festival. (Picture: Rich Fury/Getty Images for FYF)
For Seun Kuti growing up in the shadow of a famous father was more blessing than curse. “I am used to being my father’s son,” the singer and political activist laughs down the line from his home in Lagos. “I have been his son for 40 years. I think I’ve got the hang of it.”
Seun is the youngest son of Fela Kuti, one of the greats of African music and a pioneer of Afrobeat, a West African genre that combines African music with American jazz and blues. He is carrying on his father’s legacy in a highly visible way by fronting Fela’s group, Egypt 80, whom he brings to Ireland for the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. In Nigeria, there is an assumption that Seun “inherited” Egypt 80 from his dad upon his death in 1997. In fact, the process was carrying on was more organic and informal.
