Seun Kuti, son of the legendary pioneer of the Afrobeats genre, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, has opened up about the controversial decision his late father made to marry 27 women in a single day.
The revelation came during an interview on the ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ podcast, conducted via Skype.
In 1978, Fela’s mass wedding was seen as a bold and defiant act. Addressing the reasons behind this unprecedented move, Seun explained that Fela was constantly embroiled in media propaganda.
The media at the time labeled Fela’s female dancers and band members, who lived with him, as prostitutes.
“My father was under immense media propaganda. He was very scrutinized. And most of it was directed to the women that were in his life; his female backup singers, dancers. They all lived together with my dad but the media started calling them prostitutes,” Seun recounted.
In an effort to preserve the honor and dignity of these women, Fela proposed marriage to them. Seun elaborated, “So my dad, in order to preserve their honour and dignity, asked them if they would choose to be his brides so nobody would call them names anymore and they all agreed. That was how the marriage happened.”
Additionally, Seun disclosed that a biopic on Fela’s life is currently in the works
