Fela warned me against marriage, Funke was a mistake – Femi Kuti

Afrobeat icon, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti has credited his success to the guidance of his late father and music legend, Fela.In an interview with The Nation, Femi revealed that hard work was a major secret he acquired from his fathe and that Fela was his staunch critic who reviewed his first-ever composition.

“Fela asked, ‘So how do you want people to dance to this?’ I only thought of the melody when I composed the song, but on speaking to him, I realised that it was important for Africans to be able to dance to the song.”

On marriage to Funke, his ex-wife, Femi said he never wanted to have a spouse in the first place.

“I never believed in marriage. I loved my wife, and got carried away. I am happy about the experience. We got married for a number of reasons.

“She left home and many people said she had made the greatest mistake of her life. She got pregnant and we had to have a certain status for our child, documentation and so on. There were so many reasons to get married.”

He disclosed that he went against his father’s counsel not to get married, adding that taking his relationship with Funke to the next level did not work out well.

“Now we are great friends, but probably if we had not gotten married, we probably would have still been together.

“When you get married, if it breaks up, you get into a very bitter street, that makes it is very difficult for people to make up afterwards.

“Everything goes bitter around you, and hatred comes in. And when hatred comes, you find that many couples can no longer stand each other”.