Image via Dave Specter
When the music world lost Fela Kuti nearly three decades ago, over a million people packed the streets of Lagos to celebrate his genius. Eventually, the coffin wended its way to the New Afrika Shrine where family and friends paid their final farewell. The event would also spark the patrilineal succession from Fela to his youngest son Seun, who became the head of his legendary band, Egypt 80.
At just 14, Seun took the reins of the greatest Afro-beat collective ever assembled (their only rivals being Fela’s earlier Afrika ’70 outfit). By then, Seun was already considered a seasoned performer, having shared the stage with Fela since his pre-adolescence. You can find footage of a 7-year old Seun being introduced at Afrika Shrine by Nigerian activist Femi Falana for Fela’s album launch for Confusion Break Bones in 1990.
Egypt 80 (fka Koola Lobitos, Nigeria 70, and Africa 70) released four records under Fela but has since put out several others, including Many Things (2008), From Africa With Fury: Rise (2011), Black Times (2018), and Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) (2024). The band is well-known for their unforgettable, high-energy performances underpinned by a blend of jazz, funk, highlife, and rock.
Last year, Egypt 80 put out Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head), executive produced by another artist known for blending music genres, Lenny Kravitz (via Milan-based independent label Record Kicks). The record’s six tracks showcase Seun’s dedication to preserving his father’s legacy and his transformation as an artist/activist. “T.O.P,” for instance, stands for “Things Over People” and calls attention to how society values money and success over its people.
In late 2020, Seun resurrected his father’s socialist political party, the Movement of the People to enact change in his family’s home country of Nigeria. And even more recently, Seun has voiced his frustrations with the global class struggle, and how the elites continue to put pressure on the divide between the working class and the underprivileged around the world.
On Heavier Yet (Deluxe Edition), Egypt 80 taps into the energy generated by the first record, amplifying Seun’s strong sense of responsibility to his country and its people. In keeping with his father’s approach to developing a shared language through mutual understanding, Seun connected with a number of politically outspoken artists featured on the deluxe edition, including Kamasi Washington, Posdnuous of De La Soul, and French-Caribbean multihyphenate Adi Oasis. The album contains both original and reimagined cuts, each of which convey the importance of resilience within revolution while cautioning those who side with the Afrobeat movement against the dangers of compliance and getting caught up in the political maze with no exit.
While zipping across time zones across the US on a massive tour with stops at Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Seun took a few moments to relax and chat with me over a Zoom call where he spoke passionately about his father and what his time with Egypt 80 has meant to him both as an artist but also as the son of such a renowned figure in Nigeria’s musical and political history. – Lara Gamble