Nigerian musician, Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti, commonly known as Seun Kuti is a year older today January 11, 2016. He was born in Lagos in 1983. Seun is the youngest son of legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and he leads his father’s former band Egypt 80.
The late Fela Kuti has two offspring who are very successful in the music industry – Seun and his brother Femi.
At the age of nine, Seun expressed the wish to sing to his father and he started performing with his father and the band a while later. Since then, Seun has followed the political and social ethos of his father.
After Fela died in 1997, Seun, then only 14 years old, became the lead singer of Egypt 80. While in school Seun had to choose between a career in music and one in African Football. His 2008 debut album, Many Things, was produced by Martin Meissonnier, who had already produced two albums for his father.
Three quarters of the current Egypt 80 line-up consists of musicians that not only played with Fela Kuti, but often were arrested and harassed alongside the founder of the Afrobeat movement. Live sets consist of both new material and originals from Seun’s father.
He participated actively in the Occupy Nigeria protests against the fuel subsidy removal policy of President Goodluck Jonathan in his native Nigeria, in January 2012. Seun Kuti is an atheist.
Seun and girlfriend Yetunde George Ademiluyi welcomed a baby girl on 16 December 2013 and named her Ifafunmike Adara Anikulapo-kuti.
Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80 Orchestra performed at Celebrate Brooklyn 2011. In 2014, Seun Kuti was given an honorary invitation to perform live for the first time at the Industry Nite.
