“Fela gave us a platform to flourish on” — 9ice

Veteran singer, songwriter Alexander Abolore Adegbola Akande, popularly known as 9ice has said that late Afrobeat star Fela Anikulapo Kuti set a ladder for Nigerian musicians to climb to the top.

The 43-year-old singer made this statement in a recent interview with ‘Sis Project Studios’, stating that Fela as the pioneer of Afrobeat, introduced a genre that made things easier for many artistes.

He noted that back in the days, other artistes were trying different genres and looking for ways to showcase their talents to the world. While Fela maintained a path in the Afrobeat genre which gained recognition worldwide.

“Fela Anikulapo-Kuti gave us the platform which is Afrobeat for us to climb on top. We were trying to do Afropop. We were trying to do afrobeats. We were trying to do different names. But Baba [Fela] already has something that the world recognized.

“Afrobeat taught me a lot. King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti are our grandfathers. And I’m glad to be in existence to emulate or to follow what they’ve done,” He said.

Watch the video below:

"Fela Anikulapo-Kuti gave us the platform which is Afrobeat"

– 9ice

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📹 Sis Project Studios pic.twitter.com/FLgaAfXlZv

— 🐬 @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) August 30, 2023