Musicians urged to promote Fela's message

Music lovers in Abuja on Thursday urged young artists to promote the message and lyrics of late Afro-beat music legend, late Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

The music lovers were reacting to the declining state of the Afrobeat music in Nigeria.

Some of them said in Abuja, said the current style of music by artists did not reflect the dynamism and uniqueness of the Afrobeat music.

According to Akin Akerere, the Nigeria entertainment industry needs to embark on a restoration project of Afrobeat music.

Akerere, who described Fela’s Afrobeat music as 'highly philosophical' urged upcoming artists to have a vision and take lead from the late Kuti to ensure that Afrobeat music was sustained.

"Infact every October, I usually remember and thank God for giving Nigeria a person like Fela Anikulapo Kuti.’’ he said

He said there should be more upcoming Afrobeat musicians who would use music to send the message that Afrobeat stood for and help address some societal issues.

"Musicians should help in addressing the challenges of the common man in the society. So I advise young and upcoming music talents to employ life changing lyrics in their songs,’’ Akerere said.

Austin Nwachukwu, a resident of Wuse 2, said Fela carved a niche for himself because of his brand of music which had originality and style.

However, Nwachukwu said Afrobeat was difficult, tasking and requires great skills and talents.

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"With determination and consistency, other artists could excel in it,’’ he said.

On his part,  Frank Okpe of Karu District, Abuja, said Afrobeat music required real talents and hard work.

"Afrobeat music which is a fusion of jazz, highlife, funk is essentially the type of music that appeals to the mind and which broadens the creative minds of our youths,’’ Okpe said.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti, popularly known as Fela, was born on October 15, 1938, and died on August 2, 1997.

Apart from being the pioneer of Afrobeat music, he was also a multi-instrumentalist musician and composer.

-NAN