Singer, Wyclef Jean, has paid tribute to Nigerian legend, Fela Kuti with a track in his coming album titled ‘Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee’.
Singer has released the first single off the album and he titles it ‘Fela Kuti’. He said he did that because he wants kids to google the name when they hear the song and know about the legend of Fela and his legacies.
“I decided to name it Fela Kuti because for me, I feel like we be thinking of [Bob] Marley, we give a lot of people from our past props, so when the kids hear Fela Kuti, I really want them to Google it.
“For me, the same way kids can have songs called ‘Wyclef Jean’ who are influenced by me, I want kids to know who Fela is and what he means,” he said.
Wyclef also pointed out that the many similarities between himself and the Afrobeat legend was part of the inspiration behind the song.
“Fela Kuti studied jazz in England. Wyclef studied jazz at Vailsburg High School. Fela Kuti then went back to his country and tried to help his country by running for president. Wyclef, you know, did the same thing. Fela Kuti’ was produced by Supah Mario, Wyclef decided to work with the producer after hearing his work on Young Thug‘s song, ‘Wyclef Jean.
“This is what happens when you put two generations together that inspire each other,” Wyclef explained.
‘Fela Kuti’ is the fourth track on the yet to be released album.