Fela
Tosin Ogunrinde
Femi Kuti confirmed in the Channels TV interview that Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s entire music catalogue is now fully owned and controlled by the Kuti family. He and his sister Yeni have long held administrative roles in their father’s legacy, with Femi specifically managing Fela’s catalog while also co-managing the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos. The statement reasserts family stewardship over one of the most influential bodies of work in African music.
The family’s control wasn’t automatic. After Fela’s death in 1997, rights to his recordings and compositions were scattered. In 1999, Universal Music France remastered 45 albums it owned and licensed them globally, except Nigeria and Japan. In 2005, UMG licensed those titles to Wrasse Records for U.S./UK distribution. Then in 2008, the Kuti family partnered with Knitting Factory Entertainment and Partisan Records to revive and reissue Fela’s entire catalog, aiming to broaden global reach and accessibility. A 2013 deal saw FKO Ltd., which held rights to all of Fela’s compositions, acquired by BMG Rights Management.
Today, licensing and use of Fela’s music is handled through the family’s partners. Partisan Records fields press and sync inquiries, with emails listed for broadcast, film, and commercial uses. The family’s oversight ensures that Afrobeat’s foundational recordings — from _Zombie_ to _Coffin for Head of State_ to _Water No Get Enemy_ — remain tied to the estate’s vision. Femi has also co-curated vinyl reissues, including Box Set #5 with Chris Martin, which included detailed booklets, Ghariokwu artwork, and commentaries by Afrobeat historian Chris May.
Femi’s role is both administrative and creative. He grew up in Afrika 70 and Egypt 80, recording saxophone on classic albums like _Authority Stealing_ (1980), _I.T.T. International Thief Thief_ (1980), _Original Sufferhead_ (1981), and _Live In Amsterdam_ (1983). He even briefly led Egypt 80 when Fela was imprisoned in 1984. In 1986 he formed his own band, Positive Force, releasing five Grammy-nominated albums including _Fight to Win_ (2001) and the 2021 double album _Legacy +_ with his son Mádé.
That family continuity is deliberate. Fela’s daughter Yeni drove the building of the Kalakuta Museum and the New Afrika Shrine, key cultural sites that keep his political and musical legacy visible. The annual Felabration festival, which Yeni pioneered in 1998, is held each year at the Shrine to celebrate Fela’s life and birthday. Femi has said the family treats the catalog not just as music but as a political archive — “sweet music with a very bitter message” — and full control lets them protect how it’s presented.
Full family ownership also affects how Afrobeat’s story is told globally. Broadway’s _Fela!_, the 2009 cast recording, and Idris Elba’s 2023 curated Box Set #6 all operate through licenses tied back to the estate. The 2021 _Legacy +_ album paired Femi’s _Stop the Hate_ with Mádé’s _For(e)ward_, showing three generations of Kutis using the platform Fela built. Femi’s tracks directly denounce corruption, land grabs, and privatization, continuing the protest tradition while asserting that the catalog funds new work.
For Femi, control means cultural sovereignty. He’s stated that understanding men’s nature would reduce conflict — a controversial view — but on the catalog he’s unequivocal: the family decides. With BMG administering publishing and Partisan handling master reissues, the Kutis have leveraged partnerships without ceding ownership. That structure lets them approve documentaries, compilations like _Red Hot + Riot_, and covers by artists such as D’Angelo, Mos Def, and Common, while keeping revenue and narrative in the family.
So “fully owned, controlled by family” means Femi, Yeni, and their siblings now sit at the center of licensing, reissues, and legacy projects. After decades of label fragmentation, the catalog has been reconsolidated under family authority through deals with Knitting Factory, Partisan, and BMG. It ensures that Fela’s Afrobeat — music born in conflict with Nigeria’s military regimes — remains administered by the people who lived it and who, through the Shrine, Felabration, and new albums, keep expanding it.
