YENI ANIKULAPO-KUTI

OLU MAINTAIN AND YK POWER

YK

YK AND YOUNGER SISTER SOLA

MAMA AFRICA
YK IN A HAPPY MOOD

YENI KUTI IN HER ACTIVE DAYS AS A DANCER FOR THE POSITIVE FORCE

POSITIVE FORCE DANCERS

YK POWER AND OLISA DURING FELABRATION 07

YK POWER POWER CELEBRATION OF HER 2006 AND 2007 BIRTHDAYS

Having hailed from a noble family with a world class musician father, maverick dancer and choreographer, Yeni Kuti could easily pass for someone born with a silver spoon in her mouth. But Yeni who is the eldest daughter of late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti said she refused to come under the delusion of her father’s fame and affluence. She said she was never pampered although she had every opportunity. However, the artiste who currently runs the new Afrika Shrine alongside her brother, Femi Kuti is today reaping the gains of hardwork and commitment. Bold, loquacious, and sometimes weird in some of her ways, the mother-of-one confessed to Daily Sun recently that the two challenges before her presently is how to launder the image of the shrine and establish a dance school. The second project seems a tall ambition but she believes it can be accomplished as noted in this interview. She speaks on growing up, career, ambition, Afrika Shrine and why she doesn’t have a social life.

Growing up
My father was already popular by the time I was admitted into the secondary school. When I was in the primary school, he wasn’t so popular. As a result of his popularity, a lot of people wanted to be my friend. On the contrary, there were people who didn’t want to associte with me because I was Fela’s daughter.We did not grow up in affluence, my parents were not very rich. I used to fetch water because we didn’t have pip-borne water in the house we lived.I had to fetch water to bath, wash my clothes until I was about 17 or 18 years old. We did not have a house help. My mother never had one. So, one day father saw my palms and screamed. " Look at your hands, so you wash your own clothes?, he asked me. He then told me, ‘okay bring your clothes here so that the boys would wash them for you’. Upon that instruction, I took the clothes to his house to get them washed. At 18 years, I had left secondary school. I attended Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Lagos. I could not complete my final year examination because I had to travel. On arrival, I called on the school so that I could write the examination, but the man who received the call was not quite friendly, so I abandoned the examination. Later, I enrolled in a secretariat school, where I did speedwriting.After the programme, I worked for about five years until my brother started his band. When he started the band, I told myself, ‘I must do the choreography because of my passion for dancing.’Working experienceI worked for an architectural firm for about four years. After that, I worked for Arrow Head, a fashion house for a year. When I was there, I used to put on skirt suit. I had to dress like a secretary because my boss was very strict about dressing. I was always looking very officious.Dancing is my lifeIn my secondary school days, I was in all the dance troupes. I had some friends who would tell me, ‘Yeni you danced too much and because of that I wouldn’t want to be your friend again.’ When I left secondary school, instead of going to journalism school, I wanted to go to a dancing school abroad but my father couldn’t afford it. That was why I could not attend a dancing school but it was still a passion. After two years of watching Fela’s dancers on stage, I went to him and asked him if I could choreograph his dancers. Although, he had someone doing his choreography but I didn’t like the way the person was handling it. Fela agreed, but When I spoke with one of his wives, she told me that the politics was just too much, so I beat a retreat. Eventually, when Femi was going to start his band, my late sister, Sola and I were so happy because we saw it as a big opportunity.

Choreographing Femi’s dancers

Now, I still work with my brother. I do the choreography and I still dance on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the rehearsals. I don’t dance during Femi’s shows anymore because I think I don’t have the energy any longer. I don’t know where Femi got his energy from.