Femi Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, has sparked controversy by refuting claims that the late drummer, Tony Allen, co-pioneered the afrobeat genre with his father.
Despite Allen being widely credited as a co-pioneer due to his work as Fela’s lead drummer and music director, Femi Kuti insists that Allen did not contribute to Fela’s music.
In a recent video message, Femi Kuti claimed that Fela taught Allen his drumming style, just like his other instrumentalists. He stated that Fela was a multi-instrumentalist and composer who wrote all his drum patterns and musical compositions without input from others.
Kuti said “My father was a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He studied music. He knows every single part of his instrument. You probably have read 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 then 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.”
