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People are so poor and desperate. They have nothing, and the churches get people to donate their money for prayers. Wouldn't it be better if that money went towards a better medical system for people and a better education system for their children? The pastors live like gods. People need to understand the effect of religion on our lives. -Femi Kuti |
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Photo by: Nicolas Hidiroglou
Enter the trumpet. Of all the things to get Femi through his darkest hours, he turned to an instrument that he had only dabbled with in his nearly 30-year career. Femi says that more than any other instrument, the trumpet demands commitment. That devotion has made him serene in a country largely devoid of serenity.
 Femi & Made Kuti |
"The trumpet has really helped me become a calmer person and I really don't get that angry anymore," he says. "With the saxophone, you can leave it for a few weeks and come back, but you can't really do that with the trumpet. You must do it every day, and it has made me more disciplined in many ways. It has changed my life."
He's also mended fences with Seun. Femi says his half-brother has apologized for his role in the tiff, and has since performed at the Shrine. "The trumpet has helped me focus on what is important in my life, and I have found it easier to move forward from little things like that," he says.
The most important thing to Femi now is his children. He has three of his own, and has also adopted four others, all friends of Made whose parents were reportedly too poor to look after them. Much as his father Fela took him under his wing and made him a part of his band as a teenager, Femi has brought Made on tour for several years, and has made a place for him in his band. Made plays saxophone on all of Day by Day and sings on the song "One Two." To Femi, passing on his father's legacy to his own son is his life's goal.
"My ultimate objective before I leave this world is to give to him everything I know and arm him with all of the musical knowledge I have," he says. "That is now the purpose of my life."
Femi's tranquility is reflected in the music of Day by Day. While you could hear his anger on the tracks he unveiled on his 2004 Live at the Shrine DVD, Day by Day is jazzier, more melodic and less forceful. The title track features a lilting, gospel-infused chorus.
 Femi Kuti by Nicolas Hidiroglou |
However, the emerging personal calm in his life and music hasn't made Femi less angry about the state of his country and the African continent. On Day by Day, he rails against the negative impact of religion in Africa, and questions the value of democracy in a continent that is so riddled with corruption and whose fate is so intertwined with financial assistance from global institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
"I have no faith in religion, and we face a battle to educate people that they are wasting their time," he says. "People need to understand how religion came to Africa. It came to Africa brutally. Christians came here and took our people, they took our gold and they gave us Jesus Christ. Islam came and took our gold and gave us Muhammad. People go to church every day, they spend the night in church at night vigils, waiting for the savior to come."
On one seven-kilometer road near his home in Lagos, Femi counts 58 churches, many with pastors who travel in private jets and some of the nicest cars in Nigeria. "How many churches do you need?" he asks. "People are so poor and desperate. They have nothing, and the churches get people to donate their money for prayers. Wouldn't it be better if that money went towards a better medical system for people and a better education system for their children? The pastors live like gods. People need to understand the effect of religion on our lives."
Femi has little faith that democracy alone will allow African countries to get out from under the weight of corruption, poverty, and disease. He says with the U.S., China and European nations so reliant on Africa for mineral resources like oil and diamonds, Western governments fuel the fires that turn into war and genocide. "If America, China and Europe did not buy these things from these people, what would they have to sell to fund their wars?" he asks. "This has been going on for hundreds of years."
Although poverty and corruption have vexed his country all his life, Femi knows that change is inevitable. Fela's formation of his own political party in the 1970s and his indomitable anti-establishment crusade earned him the nickname "Black President." Now, the U.S. has its own. "Nobody believed that a black man would ever become President of the United States - NEVER," he says, with joy in his voice. "I don't even know if Obama ever believed it himself."
Despite years of personal and national strife that would break most men, Femi sounds rejuvenated. At 46, he's brimming with energy to write and record new music and do what he does best: deliver one of the best live shows on the planet.
"I now know how to tackle family and political problems better," he says. "I will handle it all much better now. I've been writing more, and I'm ready to go back into the studio. The people have been waiting too long for this album. I hope they forgive me."
A behind the scenes making of Day by Day
Femi Kuti will be on tour in America this January. Dates available here.
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