Popular musician and instrumentalist Made Kuti has said that he never considered any other career besides music. He recently revealed that his interest in music developed naturally because he grew up in a musical environment.
Speaking during an interview with PunchNG, Made shared that he was fortunate enough to be able to learn all of his favourite music instruments from Femi Kuti’s band members.
According to him, learning those instruments seamlessly helped him appreciate music as a profession better, so his decision never felt forced.
He stated that his father, however, warned him that it took dedicated practice to be an accomplished musician.
“No! My interest in music developed naturally from all the exposure around me. It could have gone either way, but luckily, I loved it.
Every instrument I wanted to learn, someone in my dad’s band taught me the basics. I moved fluidly from one instrument to another — it never felt forced.
My dad only told me, “‘Practice if you want to be a good musician,'” he said.
Made Kuti further noted that his time at the New Afrika Shrine gave him freedom.
He concluded by saying that all of his childhood memories at the shrine are happy ones.
“One sure memory was when the New Afrika Shrine was opened. This wasn’t the original shrine where Fela performed, but the one my dad, Femi, and my aunt, Yeni, built in 2000.
At the opening when I was just about five years old, I played the trumpet. Another vivid memory is of my dad performing four times a week in his 40s.
On Fridays, I would sometimes watch him play all night for six hours, then head straight to school in the morning. The shrine gave me freedom.
I was a troublemaker — jumping on tables, riding bicycles and skateboards. All my childhood memories of the shrine are happy ones.
I have always considered it a blessing to be part of such an incredible lineage; not just in entertainment, but in medicine, activism, and academics.
From Doctor Koye to Doctor Beko, to Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, it is a powerful heritage. I know that whatever I do creatively will always be attributed to the family, and I’m okay with that.
However, I wish that people could sometimes take my music as art in itself, beyond the lineage. Yes, afrobeat exists today, thanks to Fela and Femi; but if I wasn’t a Kuti, how would people receive this same music?” he added.
