Three-time Grammy Award winner, Wyclef Jean has revealed the reason behind his decision to name his lead single off the soon to be released ‘Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee’ album, ‘Fela Kuti’.
Speaking about the album which is expected to drop in September 2017, Wyclef Jean revealed that his decision to name the track after the late Nigerian music legend is to have people including kids download the song and Google Fela Kuti to know who he is and his contributions.
The Haitian rapper during his interview with XXL Magazine spoke of the track which samples late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s ‘Eko Ile’ track. He said: “I decided to name it Fela Kuti because, for me, I feel like we be thinking of [Bob] Marley, we give a lot of people from our past props, so when the kids hear Fela Kuti, I really want them to Google it.
“Fela Kuti studied jazz in England. Wyclef studied jazz at Vailsburg High School. Fela Kuti then went back to his country and tried to help his country by running for president. Wyclef, you know, did the same thing.
“Then, Fela, through all his obstacles and all that, his music is what pillared him right back to the top. He understood the strongest way to help politically was to make sure the music was bangin’. So for me, the same way kids can have songs called ‘Wyclef Jean’ who are influenced by me, I want kids to know who Fela is and what he means.”