Femi Kuti: Social Conscience with a Beat

Nigerian musician Femi Kuti famously hasn’t listened to another artist’s music in over a decade. It’s tempting to think that’s because he’s the son of one of Nigeria’s greatest musical minds, the late superstar Fela Kuti—the weight of history, expectations, etc. But Femi says he keeps his ears quiet as a way to get in touch with his own deepest creative impulses. And indeed his most recent Afrobeat offering, No Place for My Dreams, is a strikingly clear-eyed take on the world as it is today, musically and politically. Femi Kuti follows his recent sweltering set at Prospect Park with a session here in our studio.