Femi Kuti disputes Tony Allen's role as afrobeats co-pioneer

Fela Kuti, Tony Allen and Femi Kuti

Multiple Grammy-nominated musician Femi Kuti, the son of late Afrobeats pioneer Fela Kuti, has denied that his father and the late, great drummer Tony Allen co-founded the genre.

Due to his work as Fela's principal drummer and music director, Allen is frequently recognized by both domestic and international media as a co-pioneer of Afrobeats.

Femi Kuti, however, denied the allegations in a recent video message posted on his social media page, asserting that neither Allen nor anybody else contributed to Fela's songs.

He asserted that, like his other instrumentalists, Allen learned his drumming technique from Fela.

Kuti said, “My father was a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He studied music. He knows every single part of his instrument. You probably have reas that they said he said, ‘Without Tony Allen, there is no Afrobeat.’ That is the biggest bullsh*t ever said about my father. It is such a big lie.

“They tried to sell Tony Allen so they decided to lie. Yes, he was a good drummer but Fela taught him his style of drums. Fela came up with all his drum patterns. We saw it.

“I was a child, a teenager, a man, we saw Fela do it. Fela wrote all his patterns. I keep telling them, why didn’t Tony Allen tell us which songs he did for Fela? He couldn’t because there was no song that Fela asked him to put the drum pattern for him. It is impossible.

“When Fela was writing, no one could make any inputs because he goes into trance while making music. Everyone around him them must maintain calmness and listen to his composition and instructions.

“So, I asked those saying Fela credited Allen for Afrobeat where he did and they can’t produce it. There is no article, recording or footage from any interview to prove it. It is impossible that Fela would make such a statement and there is no copy anywhere.”

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