In the vast and vivid story of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, few names invite as much curiosity as Fehintola Anikulapo-Kuti. She was not the headline act, nor the public speaker defying governments, but within the pulse of Afrobeat’s golden years her name surfaces again and again, whispering from the credits of albums and the photographs of the legendary Kalakuta Republic.
To understand Fehintola’s place in history is to understand a chapter of Afrobeat itself, the communal experiment that blurred the boundaries between art, politics, family, and freedom.
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The Changing of a Name and a Nation
In 1975, Fela Ransome-Kuti cast aside his colonial surname, adopting the Yoruba title Anikulapo, meaning “one who carries death in his pouch.” It was an act of spiritual defiance and a declaration of independence from the legacies of British rule. This moment coincided with his founding of the Kalakuta Republic, a self-proclaimed autonomous commune in Lagos where musicians, dancers, and family lived as one creative organism.
Within this radical community lived Fehintola, one of the young women who joined Fela’s band as a dancer and vocalist. Life at Kalakuta was a tapestry of rehearsals, performances, rituals, and resistance. Each member contributed to the rhythm that would soon echo across continents.
The Marriage of Twenty-Seven Queens
On 20 February 1978, after surviving a devastating military raid on Kalakuta the year before, Fela staged an event that would make headlines around the world. He married twenty-seven women in a single ceremony in Lagos, sealing what he described as a “spiritual union” with the women who had stood beside him through hardship.
Fehintola was among those brides.
The ceremony was part traditional Yoruba wedding, part political theatre, and part family vow. Ifa priests officiated, musicians played, and the newly christened wives wore white lace and coral beads. Some saw it as scandal, others as solidarity, but to those within Kalakuta it was an affirmation of unity, art, and survival.
Fehintola’s Voice in the Music
Beyond her marriage to Fela, Fehintola’s voice is preserved in the chorus lines of several recordings. In the discographic archives, she appears as Fehintola Kayode (alias Fehintola Anikulapo-Kuti), credited as a chorus vocalist with Fela’s bands Africa 70 and later Egypt 80.
These were not small contributions. Afrobeat’s layered call-and-response vocals, its chants and harmonies, depended on women like Fehintola who could translate protest into melody. Their voices carried the pulse of rebellion, softening Fela’s fiery verses with rhythm and grace.
For many listeners, the background vocals of songs such as Unknown Soldier and No Agreement are inseparable from Afrobeat’s identity, proof that behind every cry for justice stood a chorus of resilient women.
Mother to a Legacy
Among the many bonds that connected Fela’s wives to his legacy, none resonates more deeply than Fehintola’s role as mother to Seun Anikulapo-Kuti, born in 1983.
Today, Seun continues his father’s mission as the leader of Egypt 80, blending political consciousness with the enduring rhythms of Afrobeat. His life’s work stands as living testimony to the musical lineage that began within Kalakuta’s walls, nurtured by both his parents.
Fehintola’s influence on Seun’s upbringing is less documented than her husband’s public activism, yet family acknowledgements and official estate records confirm her as a foundational presence in his early years. Through Seun, her legacy extends into the twenty-first century stage.
The Women of Kalakuta
Fehintola’s story reflects the collective identity of the Kalakuta Queens, as Fela’s wives and performers came to be known. They were dancers, singers, caretakers, and cultural custodians who shared in both the triumphs and the persecutions of life with Nigeria’s most controversial musician.
When military authorities raided Kalakuta in 1977, many of these women were beaten and humiliated. Yet they returned, standing beside Fela during tours, protests, and arrests. Their commitment gave Afrobeat not only a sound but also a visible face of courage and defiance.
After the Spotlight
Historical documentation of Fehintola’s later life remains sparse. Few interviews or public records detail her personal journey after Fela’s passing in 1997. What is known comes largely from the oral recollections of those within the Afrobeat community and her acknowledgment in the official Kuti family legacy archives.
This silence in the historical record is not absence but omission, a reminder of how many women’s voices in African music history have faded beneath the thunder of the men they helped build up.
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Remembering Fehintola
Fehintola Anikulapo-Kuti stands today as more than a name in the liner notes of Afrobeat albums. She embodies the unseen labor of women who carried music, motherhood, and rebellion all at once.
Through her, we glimpse the communal life that made Afrobeat a cultural force: a space where art and resistance intertwined, where sound became sanctuary, and where a chorus of women transformed one man’s vision into a people’s movement.
Author’s Note
Fehintola’s life reminds us that history often sings in harmony, not in solo. While Fela’s legend roared from the stage, it was voices like hers that gave Afrobeat its soul and continuity. She deserves remembrance not just as a wife or a mother, but as an artist whose rhythm helped shape one of Africa’s most revolutionary musical movements.
References
“Fela’s Children – Official Fela Legacy Website.” FelaKuti.com. Accessed November 2025.
“The Untold Story of How Fela Kuti Married 27 Women the Same Day.” Graphic Online (Accra, Ghana). Accessed November 2025.
Stanley, B. “Fela and His Wives: The Import of a Postcolonial Masculinity.” Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, North Carolina State University, 1997.
“Fehintola Anikulapo-Kuti.” Discogs Artist Profile and Recording Credits. Accessed November 2025.
