19th December, 2014
Funsho Arogundade
Four time Grammy award nominee and Afro beat legend, Femi Kuti, said he has been cheated and feels disappointed in some past attempts to sign a deal in Nigeria.
Femi told P.M.NEWS Entertainment Cafe in a recent chat that these experiences made him very wary and he had to stick to his overseas managers until recently.
“I have never had any kind of management deal in Nigeria because I have been very disappointed by some past attempts and have had a lot of bad experiences here. I have been very discouraged in dealing with some Nigerians when it comes to such business,” revealed Femi, who recently signed an exclusive management deal for Nigeria with Chocolate City.
Femi disclosed that he decided to have a change of mind dealing with a Nigerian company when he met the executives of Chocolate City, a pan-African entertainment company.
According to the music star, he was nearly discouraged by the response of some friends who felt that the personalities behind the company are too young or his brand is too big for such company to handle. But he decided to give them a listening ear.
“When Chocolate City came to ask me for a management deal, I had a lot of calls from people telling me they are too young and I am too big for them. But I decided to give them an audience because my training doesn’t allow me to be arrogant or pompous in that light… So when they came, I did my own investigations and found out that they are a very young, vibrant people,” Femi said.
He continued: “Discussing further with them, I discovered that they have done a very deep research on my person and my brand. They didn’t just scratch the surface but went deep and knew what they were talking about. So when I finally met the people behind the company, I saw a calibre of people so enthusiastic and sincere, which really impressed me. And I was overjoyed to discover that we still have good people in our country that are so sincere. They never sounded dubious or tricky. So, I made up my mind that I will sign with them, even though I still instructed my lawyer to give them a lot of stress and stringent terms in my favour. And ever since I signed that contract, I have not been disappointed. I see them as another extended family of mine. I see them as brothers and sisters. And feel very warm in my heart.”
Also speaking on the historic deal with Femi, Audu Maikori, entrepreneur and Chocolate City CEO, said the company actually saw a brand Femi that is global and well respected everywhere, but less appreciated at home.
“Femi Kuti is not unknown to many here whether locally or on the global level. But one thing that has been so interesting to us is that Kuti has been so celebrated internationally, maybe even much more than locally. But we felt that there is a need to bring this icon back home to positive reckoning since this is where it all started from. That is why we are so interested in working with him and since our relationship started, it has been quite interesting,” Maikori said.
P.M.NEWS Entertainment Cafe learnt that on the deal, Femi has signalled his resolve to reconnect with his grassroots in Nigeria and also the younger generation. He has also continued to promote his latest album, No Place For My Dream with high profile appearances in events like Johnny Walker’s Black Podium series launch, Felabration 2014 and his highly publicised return to Abuja to headline the show Femi Anikulapo Kuti Live in Abuja after over a decade of absence from the nation’s capital.
Aside from this, Femi has maintained his tradition of performing weekly at the Afrika Shrine which was recently described by British Airways’ in-flight journal as “must see” place of interest in Lagos.
Femi has already started work on his 10th studio album, which is scheduled for release internationally, and for the first time will also be released simultaneously in Nigeria in 2015.