Burna Boy also argued that Fela’s era offered him the opportunity to pass his message without much hindrance
By Kehinde Okeowo
Ace Nigerian singer, Damini Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, has said the late Afrobeats pioneer, Fela Kuti, may not reach his full potential if he existed during his era.
The Grammy-winning artiste, made this known during a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in New York, United States, where he claimed most of the people who are celebrating his works today would have criticised and called for his arrest.
Burna Boy, whose maternal grandfather, Benson Idonjie, was Fela Kuti’s first manager, went on to argue that the era Fela existed, offered him the opportunity to pass his messages through his songs without much hindrances.
He concluded that the social media era has brought so much stupidity and ignorance which would not have suited the late Afrobeats legend.
Speaking During the chat Burna Boy said: “What I have realised is that the times are really funny. Fela in his time was going through things that, if he was here today, it might have been a whole different feeling like a whole bunch of people from Nigeria who you see today celebrating Fela, are the same people that would have been tagging the police to go and arrest Fela if there was Twitter then.
“So, at the end of the day, I feel like God doesn’t make mistakes. You know what I mean like the times are just perfect for everyone, you know. If he [Fela] was here today, like his career started now, he may not have the space to explore that [his conscious creativity] because there is too much in this day and age that it just doesn’t interlock with the spirits. Right now, spirituality is almost non-existent.
“Now, it [the society] is just mostly run by stupidity and ignorance. It was still the same back then [during Fela’s era] but it wasn’t as amplified or accessed [as it is today]. Now, everything is defined by stupidity and ignorance.
“I’m grateful for the fact that he [Fela] existed in his time so that we can get an experience of the true organic nature of what he was, the essence of what he stood for and the messages he passed across to us”
