Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

• World Music

In the late 1960s, Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti fused funk, jazz, and African polyrhythms to create Afrobeat – the soundtrack of a Pan-African liberation movement. Since Fela’s passing in 1997, his youngest son, Seun Kuti, has led his father’s band, Egypt 80, carrying its musical and activist legacy into the 21st century.

Following his father’s footsteps, Seun Kuti’s concerts are explosive celebrations of rhythm and resistance – electrifying spectacles of dance and music performed by a powerhouse ensemble, met with thunderous applause. The last time Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 set the stage ablaze at the Kampnagel International Summer Festival was in 2017. Now, three albums and a Grammy nomination later, they return to shake the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall with the infectious, revolutionary energy of Afrobeat.

Bringing along his latest album, »Heavier Yet (Lays the Crownless Head)«, Seun Kuti delivers songs of resistance, resilience, and revolution. Produced by Lenny Kravitz and Fela Kuti’s sound engineer, Sodi Marciszewer, the album seamlessly blends diasporic sounds and grooving reggae with soulful warmth.

PERFORMERS

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 band

Anikulapo Kuti Oluwaseun vocals, saxophone, keyboard

Nicolas Julien Sakelario vocals

Balogun Cynthia Abimbola vocals, dance

Yetunde Sophia Anikulapo-Kuti vocals, dance

Fabrice Fila tenor saxophone

Valentin Pellet trumpet

Mohammed Cherif Benhallak guitar

Kunle Justice bass

PROGRAM

»Heavier Yet (Lays the Crownless Head)«