By Christy Anyanwu
Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, the son of legendary Afro beat king, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has also made a name for himself. Always frank and to the point, he recently shared his favourites with Sunday Sun.
Favorite colour
Navy blue. It depends on my mood. But if I have to choose a colour, I’ll probably choose blue.
Favorite food
I can eat anything. I annoy people when they ask me what I want to eat and I say anything. I’m not somebody that stresses anyone. I can eat anything, because I will work and work and get hungry. Just give me anything to eat and I’m okay. I don’t like alcohol, I don’t smoke. I’m very simple. I probably will have a quarter of a glass of champagne maybe during New Year and everybody is drinking or at party responding to a toast. I drink just water now. I used to drink a lot of Coca cola but I can’t stand it now, which is good because as I’m getting older more sugar is not good. I stopped drinking Coke about five years now and I can’t even stand the taste. I used to smoke because my father was smoking. But that has ended. But if I just want to choose, maybe rice and beans or Lafun and gbegiri soup.
Favorite weather
I like the rain very much but not to be outside when it rains. If I’m in my house and it’s raining no problem. In Nigeria if you are caught in the rain you will sleep in go-slow. Traffic will kill you.
Favorite holiday spot
I have never been on holidays and I don’t believe I will ever go on holidays. This is causing a lot fight in my house these days. Everybody thinks I should take a break. I go on break every January. I have done this for the past three years but I sit at home. I don’t like going out.
Favorite car
I don’t have a favorite car. I drive a Prado but it’s not like it’s my favorite car. I’m very simple. Many things don’t freak me.
Favourite book
I used to have a favorite book. I have read a lot of books and among them is Blackman of the Nile; very massive book. It took me nearly three years to finish it. Another one is Stolen legacy. I like autobiographies and historical books. But I don’t like books anymore. I think life is already a book.
Favorite designer
Nobody. Even perfumes, I don’t have designer’s perfumes. I walk into a shop and just ask for the best perfume they have. They show me like four or five. I tell them to choose the best one for me. Or probably my partner will buy one for me or my sister will buy one for me.
Favorite leader
Definitely not in Nigeria. If there’s a leader I will choose, it’s my father but I will not even consider him a leader. I just thought he was somebody that was very concerned about the suffering of his people. I don’t think he wanted to lead, because when the opportunity came for him to lead, he kept looking for excuses. He said his brother should rather be the president than him. My father was a jaiye jaiye man and while he was enjoying himself he saw suffering and started talking about it. You can call him a leader, because he’s always in the forefront of a struggle. But I don’t think he wanted to lead. There’s a very big difference. There are many I could choose including Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X.
Favourite musician
My father or nobody. If you ask do I like some of the music of today? I say yes. Do they inspire me? No. Will I go out of my way to listen to it? No. But if I’m at a party and they are playing it, that’s not bad. I could appreciate it; but my father’s music? I will go, I will investigate, and I will learn. It’s a big difference. I will learn from John Coltrane, I will learn from Marc Davies. I learn. They play Jazz. I like Michael Jackson, Temptations etc. My father said if you want to play music, you better listen to Jazz and I appreciate it. Eventually my mind and ears are tuned to it and I started to see what they do on instruments. Then you start to appreciate the lack of dexterity in our industry today.
Favourite movie
I like any historical movie. Any movie that tells the story of what had happened; I don’t mind some fiction too. I don’t really like love stories and I don’t really like comedy. The comedy must really be good for me to like it.