Nigerian Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti, is your favorite rapper’s favorite singer, and we have a video to prove it.
A video that surfaced yesterday shows the rapper-mogul, Sean Combs, aka, P. Diddy, and rapper Joe Budden, flawlessly dancing to Fela at Diddy’s star-studded New Year’s Eve party in Miami.
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But this is not the first time the rapper has shown his affinity for Fela, and in fact, for Africa.
On his 48th birthday late last year, the rapper-mogul shared a video of him and rapper French Montana dancing to the Fela’s song, Let’s Start (or Jeke Bere), on Instagram, captioning, “Today is my birthday and I’m feeling cute!! #BrotherLove #BlackExellence #LetsDance”.
Just a month later, the rapper-mogul shared another Fela fare, this time, a video of his sons dancing to the legend, with a voice-over by Diddy to “start them young”. At the end of the video, Diddy gives a short spiel about what he envisions would be a reception worthy for a King when he comes to Africa (one I believe will soon be realized).
Diddy joins a long list of American hip-hop artists to bite the Fela dust; Jay Z, Will Smith, Questlove, and Jada Pinkett Smith co-produced a Broadway musical in 2009 in his honor.
Fela Kuti, popularly known as Fela, was the pioneer of Afrobeats/pop music. The human rights and political activist was an outspoken Pan-Africanist who spoke often about the African and Black man’s plight and the need to unite. His influence and popularity continue to rise as a new generation of African and Afro-inspired artists sample and reference his work.
