Nigerian singer Augustine Miles Kelechi, popularly known as Tekno, has challenged the widely held view that the late music icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was the sole originator of Afrobeats.
Tekno made the remarks during an interview with Hot 97 FM in New York.
The singer argued that several older Nigerian musicians played significant roles in shaping the sound that eventually evolved into what is widely known today as Afrobeats.
According to Tekno, musicians from different parts of Nigeria contributed to the development of the genre, but many of them have not received the same level of recognition as Fela.
He specifically mentioned the late highlife musician Oliver De Coque and other legendary musicians from Eastern Nigeria.
Tekno said:
“Fela is not the originator of Afrobeats. Lagos people and the Yorubas might say he is the one, but I am from the East, and we had legends like Oliver De Coque. Oliver De Coque made pure highlife music. Highlife is also Afrobeats.
“My song ‘Rara’ is heavily inspired by Fela because I heard his music while growing up. He is a legend. He was the one who took Afrobeat international. But there are other people that we listen to. In the East, we had some legends who sang some type of music that, if you heard today, you wouldn’t believe was made in those times.
“I feel like these legends deserved more recognition. I would say I was more inspired by Oliver De Coque and his peers from the East. My dad used to play his music a lot.
“Fela gets all the credit because he travelled and performed with his band around the world. To some people, he is the originator of Afrobeats, but to me, there are a bunch of them, legends that no one speaks about”.
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