By How Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti Turned Down $1 million Offer
In the 1990s afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapokuti turned down a million-dollar offer for Motown record to buy his back catalog. Why? Fela wanted his children to benefit from his music, keeping it within the family and African hands. Fela’s music was a powerful tool for social change and he refused to let it to be controlled by corporate interests despite facing challenges and threats he remained independent a testament to his love for his people and his belief in the transformative power of music.
Yeni Kuti, Fela’s eldest daughter, also made it known that even after Fela’s death, labels still approached the family to obtain the legend’s music catalog, but the family continued to stand by Fela’s initial decision.
Ownership of His Catalog
The legendary Fela believed in maintaining control over his music, often releasing albums under his own record label, Kalakuta Records. He felt that African musicians should retain full control of their work and not be beholden to international companies, which often exploited African artists.
Many African and Black artists in the 1960s and 1970s were exploited by Western record labels that offered them what seemed like large sums of money but retained full control over their catalogs. Fela was astutely aware of this exploitation and stood against it, making it plausible that he would have rejected an offer to sell his back catalog for a hefty sum if it meant losing ownership and control over his music.
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