Seun Kuti, an Afrobeat artist, has shed light on the reason his late father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who was a pioneer of Afrobeats, took the bold step of marrying 27 women in a single day.
It is remembered that Fela made the audacious move of marrying 27 women in one day back in 1978.
During his appearance on the ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ podcast via Skype, Seun Kuti shared that his father decided to marry 27 women in one day as a means to protect their honor and dignity, as the media had already started labeling his female dancers and band members living with him as “prostitutes”. He said, “My father was subjected to intense media propaganda. He was heavily scrutinized. And much of it was directed at the women in his life; his female backup singers, dancers. They all lived together with my dad but the media started referring to them as prostitutes.
“So my dad, in an effort to safeguard their honor and dignity, proposed to them to become his wives so that they would no longer be subjected to such derogatory names, and they all agreed. That’s how the marriage came about.”
He also revealed that a biopic on Fela’s life is currently in progress.
