M-net Features Fela and Femi Kuti in Action

As part of its Sunday specials, M-net West Africa is screening two separate documentaries on Fela and Femi Kuti, capturing their experiences through interviews, street scenes and the music they are known for.
Fela Kuti’s ‘Music is the Weapon’, was showed on March 15 at 6:00 pm while Femi Kuti’s ‘Live at the Shrine’ will air on March 22 at 06:00 pm.
According to information from Segun Fayose of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs department of MultiChoice Nigeria, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was one of a kind Nigerian musician, composer and pioneer of the Afro-beat music genre, and is remembered as one of the biggest human rights activists as well as political mavericks of his time and has left a legacy of using music to unite people.
Born October 15 in 1938, to an activist mother and a minister father, he travelled to London at age 20 to study medicine but ended up studying music at the Trinity College of Music instead. While there, he formed a band and came up with a style of music that was a fusion of American Jazz, rock and funk with a West African feel to it.
Throughout his illustrious career, Fela Kuti continued to mesmerize audiences around the world. His first album, The ’69 Los Angeles Sessions, was recorded with his group Nigeria 70. In 1970, the group renamed itself and became known as Africa 70 and upon return to Nigeria; Fela formed the Kalakuta Republic - a recording studio and place of refuge for his band. The groups’ albums were sung in Pidgin English, much to the approval of West African audience. Another ground-breaking performance by the star was alongside Ginger Baker with the hit-song, Stratavarious in 1972. With unrelenting focus and dedication to his music, between 1973 and 1979, Kuti continued to tour and also recorded the album Zombie.
Between 1980 and 1986 Fela Kuti and his newly re-named group, Egypt 80 had global success. The group toured America and Europe and performed at one of the world’s biggest concerts, Amnesty International with Bono, Carlos Santana and the Neville Brothers and in the same period released Beasts of No Nation.
During the 90’s, Fela’s album output started to slow and in 1997, his brother Olikoye Kuti, a prominent AIDS activist and former health minister, stunned the nation by announcing his brother’s death early one morning.
But Fela’s legacy would live and be carried on by his son Femi.
Olufemi Kuti, Fela’s first son was born on the 16th June 1962. Having spent much of his youth with his father and having become a member of his group, Femi showed the same strong commitment to social causes and a strong affinity towards music as his father.
After his father’s death, Femi picked up from where he had left off and became a multi award winning artist. He collaborated with the likes of Common, Mos Def and Jaguar Wright alongside a number of other U.S musicians on a project called Fight to Win in 2001. Further to his success as an artist, his voice was used in the video game Grand Theft Auto as the host of a radio station IF 99.