5. Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician and the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Like his father, Femi has shown a strong commitment to social and political causes throughout his career.
He created his own band Positive Force in the late 1980s with Dele Sosimi (Gbedu Resurrection), former key-board player of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. His international career began in 1988 when he was invited by the French Cultural Centre in Lagos and Christian Mousset to perform at the Festival d’Angoulême (France), the New Morning Club in Paris and the Moers Festival in Germany.
Also in 2002, Femi contributed a remake of his father’s classic song, “Water No Get Enemy”, to Red Hot & Riot, a compilation CD in tribute to Fela Kuti that was released by the Red Hot Organization and MCA. His track was created in collaboration with hip hop and R&B artists, D’Angelo, Macy Gray, The Soultronics, Nile Rodgers, and Roy Hargrove, and all proceeds from the CD were donated to charities dedicated to raising AIDS awareness or fighting the disease.
Femi Kuti’s voice is featured in the videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, where he is the host of radio station IF 99 (International Funk 99, described as “playing a great selection of classics from West Africa, the US and elsewhere”.
Femi has been nominated for a Grammy award four times in the world music category in 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2013 but has never won.
He is also a member of the Agricultural campaign crew led by D’BANJ a campaign which its goal is to promote Agriculture and end poverty in Africa.
He’s been concluded to be the 5th most influential singer in Nigeria as of 2015.
Discussion about this post