- Nigeria’s Afrobeat artist Made Kuti reflects on his personal and musical journey.
- He discusses his marriage and personal growth as a musician.
- Kutty regrets his initial method of learning instruments.
Nigeria’s Afrobeat star producer Kuti has made a personal thought about his journey, talking frankly about marriage and his evolution as a musician.
The grandson of legendary singer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti admits regretting his early approach to learning instruments.
In an interview with Saturday’s punch, he said he wanted to focus on mastering one instrument at a time instead of moving from one instrument to another. He said “I wish I could practice more when I was young. I regretted jumping from instruments to instruments instead of learning them one by one.”
It was also revealed that marrying someone from another tribe did not affect his relationship. He explained that his family had become diverse and his connection with his wife was based on shared values rather than race. He said “My family is already very mixed, and when I meet my wife it’s not about race; it’s about values. I only noticed racial tension in the last election, but I ignored it. I’ll make the same choice a hundred times.”
He continues to emphasize the difficulties of becoming a musician, especially the challenge of perfecting the trumpet. He explained that while this may seem simple, it requires consistent practice and a strong mouth that, if overlooked, weaken rapidly and even brief breaks are apparent in performance. He said “It’s very difficult to try to master your craft. Some days are good; others are really bad. Instruments like trumpets look difficult. It looks innocent, but it’s more demanding than saxophones because it relies on rapidly weakening oral muscles. If you skip practice for only three days, there’s three days of sound.”
