They Are After Me Like They Did To My Father- Seun Kuti
Seun Kuti has conveyed his sentiment regarding the media’s creation of a biased narrative against him, drawing parallels to the misconceptions surrounding his esteemed father, Fela Kuti.
This assertion was made during a recent conversation with media personality Chude Jideonwo on the podcast With Chude. Seun, who was recently arrested for assaulting a police officer, clarified that, contrary to popular belief, he did not start smoking until he reached the age of 21.
The controversial musician further highlighted that the media portrayed his father in a negative light during his lifetime. According to him, the media falsely led the public to believe that Fela consistently wore underpants while performing on stage, thus creating a misguided perception.
According to the leader of the Egypt 80 musical band, “I think it’s deliberate on the part of the media to project me out. It’s the same way they projected my dad, and people thought he wore pants all the time to perform. They kept showing him at one rehearsal at home, where he wore pants. But that was part of a documentary. People thought that was the truth, and they felt Fela was crazzy.
“For example, I didn’t start smoking until I was 21 years old. I was in Liverpool, and that was when I knew that peer pressure is the biggest influence in the life of a growing human being.”
While revealing how he finally started smoking at the age of 21, during his 20 years of living in the Kalakuta Republic, he advised parents to pay attention to their children and their friends, noting that it would be the best gift a parent can give to their children.
Seun said; “Watch your child’s friends, that’s the best gift you can give them. For the 20 years that I lived in Kalakuta Republic, everyone was smoking around me, and I never smoked. After just one year of living with my flatmate, Alex, who was smoking all the time and was my agemate, he initiated me.
“At that time, they had started writing articles about how I was taking all kinds of drugs. I think it’s a way they project people in certain ways that society disregards. It’s a kind of alienation tactic”.
Recounting his experience in detention, over the assault of a police officer which was captured on video, the artiste said; “Well, my case is in court, so I will not really delve deep into that issue, but I will say this, I don’t believe that protecting my family is a crime. An 8-second video doesn’t explain an incident that happened for about 15 minutes.”
